Don't Leave it to Chance
by Kenwoody
Summary: Sequel to "A Game of Chance." The War is over, but a new fight is coming! Aang and Sokka can't survive it... but someone has a plan that might just save the world, and save them! Same pairs! LE FIN!
1. Be Careful What You Wish For

**Hey guys! So many people asked me for a sequel, so I started thinking, and guess what!? Ideas started coming into my brain like a miracle! Apparently people actually liked the crap wrote up and published in the first story: A Game of Chance. (If you have not read a game of chance, read that before you read this.) **

**This one may take longer to publish, but I'll do my best! Here's the first chapter, you need to tell me what you think because I am still not sure if I want to write this or not. I need to know if I've completely lost it and shouldn't try to add something new on it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar; stop calling me a liar!**

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Chapter One: Be Careful What You Wish For

**Katara's POV:** It's been two years since the end of the war, and this is the first full month in those two years since I've worn my Water Tribe clothes. Aang and I had been undercover in the Fire Nation squashing rebellions who are Ozai loyalists. We must have crushed about eight, very large, very aggravated rebellions. We just finished off the last one a month ago.

Now we're settled down at the Southern Air Temple. The Temple is much more lush and green since I came here three years ago with my brother and Aang. He's been taking care of it. I just miss the rest of my family. It's just another day at the Southern Air Temple.

Although, I have been keeping myself busy too. When I'm not practicing Waterbending or doing things around the temple, I've been keeping records of everything that has happened to me, from the day Sokka and I found Aang in the Iceberg, to the Final Battle against Ozai, to the six month Anniversary, to today. I've been doing the same thing every day, I've fallen into a rut.

Also, in a separate record, I wrote down the recipes of all the different rice dishes I made at the Western Air Temple. All sixty eight of them. I also rated them according to how much every one like them. I also added little notes, like if a certain nation would prefer a certain recipe over others. I had the Fire Flakes and Tabasco recipe in mind when I did that. I've always been complimented on my incredible memory. I wanted to keep a log of my travels, and all my rices, so if I ever did forget, it wouldn't be lost forever.

Two weeks ago, Aang took my huge list of recipes, and personally sent it to a publisher in the Earth Kingdom. When we made a trip to an Earth Kingdom town, I was shocked to find many copies of my book in a market store.

According to the merchant, he said "Those rice recipe books are selling like hotcakes… which is ironic cuz the hotcakes just aren't selling anymore!"

Besides my newfound fame of being a renowned author, not much has been going on. Sure I love Aang more than anyone else in the world, but I'm not the same without my friends. I miss my weirdo brother, and my best girl friend; Toph, and I miss the dynamic duo, Ty Lee and Teo, I even miss that hothead, Zuko and his Fire Lady, Mai.

What I would give to see them all again! I wish we could get back together, and almost have it be like old times… y'know, minus the war of course.

I'm a little upset though, I thought we would be travelling more. Y'know, helping towns, attending anniversaries, appearing at war memorials, supervising war hero tributes, I don't know… saving Beaver Cats from trees. Not just sitting here.

Maybe I've had my adventure of a life time. Maybe that's all I get for this life. But at least I could visit my friends more. I know Aang misses them almost as much as I do, but for some reason, visiting the family is never an idea mentioned, though we're both thinking about it.

Aang's footsteps down the long, echo-y corridor snapped me out of my thoughts. He stops running about five feet from me and a small gust of wind blows the hair out of my face. He has a scroll of paper in his hand and that grim look on his face that can only mean one thing.

Somebody in the family is in big trouble.

Aang understands that he doesn't have to explain. "Hurry, and pack everything you'll need; mine is packed." He says sadly. I nod, and in spite of myself, feel slightly elated for getting to see family again, despite the circumstances. That's when I wondered.

"Who's it from." I turn around and ask. Aang gives me a look as if he was hoping I wouldn't ask until later.

"It's from Toph." He sighs one more time and his shoulders sag. "There's something wrong with Sokka. She's rounded up the entire Gaang."

"Even Zuko and Mai?" He nods in response. If Zuko is coming, it must be huge. For the first time in forever, fear permeated into my thoughts. In the back of my mind, I remember Gran Gran telling me 'be careful what you wish for… you might just get it.' Well, I really screwed that one up.

I ran to go pack.

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**Sorry it's so short! Like I said, experimental first chapter here!**

**This is the one time I really need you to review, cuz I'm still on the fence here about whether I'm continuing this, or deleting it. **

**Sooooo... review, kay?**


	2. It Goes Slowly When You're Bored

**Patience is a virtue... that I don't have. Because of that you guys get the next chap. before seven reviews. But seriously guys!**

**Disclaimer: Nope murmuring _Mistrusting bastards._**

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Chapter Two: It Goes Slowly When You're Bored…

**Mai's POV: **I was in the newly built arena, training with several guards. They were supposed to give me a workout to keep me from getting soft, but I'm not sure if they were training with me, or I was training with them. From their heavy panting and exhausted faces, I would bet on the latter of the two. As much as I hate to slip back into old habits, this place really is boring with Zuko away at meeting after peace meeting after same old meeting.

I've done everything one can do in these old palaces. I've even swallowed my dignity out of boredom and did things that only little girls did, like sliding down banisters and searching for trap doors. I've also learned how to make corn bread from the cooks, in the mean time I found out that the palace chefs bought a book on rice recipes. I skimmed through it, and it seemed vaguely familiar. Turns out, Katara published a book since we last saw her and Aang.

I've done everything embarrassing that there is to do in here. I don't know how Azula lived here her entire life and managed to stay sane… wait… strike that. Azula and sane don't exactly fall in the same sentence unless there's an "isn't" somewhere in there too. Cautiously I looked down to the lower, left side of my stomach and felt the small bulge through my thin tunic where skin had mended itself from a deep wound.

I snapped back to the weakling guards who were leaning on each other and sprawled across the benches surrounding the arena. One had passed out on the steps leading off the platform. I couldn't help but smirk as I jumped over the exhausted body. We seriously needed to raise the expectations of the guards here.

"You're dismissed. Please, um, get that guy some water or something." I gestured to the man who was passed out on the ground. They bowed with a "yes ma'am" and just left, carrying the guy by his wrists, although "carrying" doesn't really cover what they were doing. Besides his wrists, and part of his upper body which was attached to his arms, the rest of his body was just dragging on the ground. It looked as if they were parading the palace with a corpse.

As annoying and dramatic as the entire gaang was, I still miss them a bit. There were never any boring moments, and there certainly was interesting gossip from Ty Lee all the time. I remember getting fed up while I was trying to talk with Zuko, and Ty Lee would run in telling me about Teo's advancing status in airbending, or another new rice recipe from Katara, or how Sokka finally found out about Katara and Aang. Now I would do anything short of killing to be annoyed like that.

I'm not quite sure if I'm more fed up with not seeing my friends, more fed up about being stuck in the same exact place for one time with very little travelling, or about how I never see Zuko anymore, let alone get to talk to him by myself. Until I'm eighteen and Zuko is nineteen, Ursa wants us to sleep in separate rooms. Just one more year.

I had seriously underestimated the whole "Fire Lady" thing, and clearly Zuko had underestimated the whole "Fire Lord" thing. At least there was more to do in this palace during the war, or at least during times of rebellion.

I remember in the rebellion times, I would sleep in a tiny, hidden hammock hidden in a nook in the room that was hidden by a curtain above my huge canopy bed that could easily fit five people. I actually missed that hammock, and I slept in that more often than not.

Or sometimes, I waited, crouched on the top wires of the canopy on the bed, so when the assassin or kidnapper came, I was ready, full armed on my little perch to jump down and slit their throat.

I can't say I'm the same person I was when I first joined the Avatar, and I'm certainly not the same person I was when Azula recruited me in Omashu. I've had my fair share of assassins barge in on me in the past two years, and I had hardened more, ready to give back what was coming to them.

I almost miss those times, when I always had to stay on my feet, though, looking back, I remembered how scared I was of Zuko or Ursa, or an innocent servant girl to get hurt. One of my handmaidens is only eleven years old. She first came to work here to help earn enough money to help her poor family. I quickly took to her, and after she was assured I was nothing like Azula, I could easily identify her as a mini version of Ty Lee.

I'm still never scared for myself, though I'm protective over that little girl like she was my own child.

I felt like walking around the grounds a bit to get out of the doldrums, so I go out to the garden and start walking along the stone path through the lavender and the Rosemary plants to get to the Basil. I gently pull off a leaf and put it in my mouth, chewing it for a bit so my mouth develops the scent of the basil, then I spit the green blob out into the grass.

I turn to walk towards the willow tree by the pond to watch the turtle ducks, when something red catches my eye in the sky. Turning to focus on it, after a minute I can distinctly make out a messenger hawk with a black ribbon attached to the message carrier. Black ribbon! That's the most urgent message!

The majestic bird zooms lower and lower, racing towards me until… he crashes into the ivy trellis. Okay, not so majestic then! I can quickly recognize the crooked tail, and I have to chuckle to myself as I pull out a metal dagger to free the clumsy bird from the evil trellis.

"Hawky, you're such a weird bird!" I whisper as I slice through the painted wood. As soon as I put my knife away again, the messenger bird leaps onto my outstretched arm. "You've probably got a message for the Fire Lord." I say in a slightly bored tone. A small smirk plays across my face. "Or maybe it's just for Zuko!" I say in a slightly more cheerful note.

**Zuko's POV: **I nod over and over at all the right moments in a desperate attempt to hide the fact that I'm bored out of my mind. Some Mayor of some town is asking about deep Sea fishing rights for boundaries to another town that is in competition with that town.

I honestly couldn't care less about deep sea fishing boundary laws. I would much rather be talking with Mai, or practicing firebending, or walking around the palace, anything but these boring meetings with Mayors trying to secure as much land as they can.

"…and in conclusion, that was why I believe that the people of Ming Yong should not have control over the fishing areas by the forest in between our two cities, and that it should belong to us." He drolled on in, what I hoped to be, the conclusion to his twenty six paragraph speech. He was quiet and I knew I had to speak now. I took a small breath as I cracked my knuckles under the table.

"I decree that you are allowed control over the fishing areas by your own communities; as are they. The middle area by the forest is a neutral ground for anyone to fish in, but no fights are allowed to break out, otherwise I will confiscate the land from the both of you." He slowly nodded, thanked me, and quietly left.

I hadn't even taken a moment to breathe before a servant came in. I was about to send him away and ask for peace and quiet, but before I could speak Mai came in behind the servant with a familiar messenger hawk perched on her arm. We waited for the servant to leave before I pulled her into a quick kiss. Even as she pulled away, she seemed upset.

"Sokka is probably just abusing Hawky again with his 'test flights', am I right?" I said smugly.

"Don't worry, Hawky killed the bad trellis." Mai replied jokingly, but then her face went solemn. I was confused for a second. Then the black ribbon dramatically showed itself as a breeze flew through the open window. If this were a play, then dramatic music would be playing

I nodded and pulled out the message, skimming it over quickly. I didn't know what it was, but I saw the words "Whale Tail Island" and "in trouble" and "rounding up everyone"

"Mai, please tell the servants to set up the Royal Warship, and tell them that we're headed to Whale Tail Island. I'm going to leave Mom in charge." We both went in different directions. Mom easily agreed to take over my position for me for as long as I needed.

When I came to the dock, the Royal Warship was ready and waiting. I came up on board, then the ship set off. I went to look for Mai.

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**Now you guys seriously need to review. I'll post a notice on _A Game of Chance_ but then you are on your own.**

**Thanks to my two reviewers Nasecoeur42, and Leathe. You get unlimited amounts of Brownie points. This is for you!**


	3. Seeing You Again

**I caved. I got several reviews from all over the place asking for me to continue. So here it is! **

**Disclaimer: Looking up who owns Avatar on internet Reads: Avatar the Last Airbender is owned by not Alexa... okay, guess that's settled then.**

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Chapter Three: Seeing You Again

**Toph's POV: **Ever since I sent out the messages via Hawky (I paid a person to write down the message) I haven't been able to do anything except sit right next to him. Right now I am paying a farmer every day to let us use his barn. I also fix his broken metal tools around the house. The barn may reek of Moose Cow, but it's clean.

I still don't know what's wrong with Sokka, he feels like he's being possessed by a Spirit, but tht can't be it. I don't know. He's not possessed cuz he actually talks to me in ways that I can understand him. Y'know, he actually talks like Sokka, and not with an echo-y Spirit voice.

I can't understand what's happening.

After about twenty minutes of giving him drinking water and putting these things from town called sweat cloths on his forehead, I couldn't help but grow impatient. I had sent Hawky four days ago for Zuko and Mai, three days ago for Teo and Ty Lee, and two days ago for Aang and Katara. Thinking back, I probably should've sent one to Aang and Katara first, since I need them both right away. If it's a physical problem I'm dealing with, then Katara is who I really need, if the spirits are malfunctioning or something, Aang would be the guy I'd need. I suppose Ty Lee is okay at the healing thing too, but not my first choice.

"So, how you holding up?" I ask.

"Well, y'know, I've had better days." He answers weakly. I smile and pat his forehead with the sweat cloth one more time.

I'm positive I heard a low growl, and my ears twitch a little bit. I wait for the thud before I focus on the earth so I can better see. Slowly, I cracked a slightly disappointed smile. I smiled at the familiar noise, but it wasn't the exact help needed.

"Hey Teo. Ty Lee. Thanks for coming." I said without turning around or moving at all as soon as I felt them in the doorway.

**Ty Lee's POV: **We rushed over as soon as we could. I was ecstatic to see my old friends. Despite the circumstances, I still want to make the most of it. I got my giggles and bouncy excitement out of my system on the way here. I almost wish the trip was longer so I could really get my giggles out of me.

Life sure is different without the entire gaang. There's less going on and even less to talk about. I mean, I love travelling with Teo and always flitting between my home in the Fire Nation, and the three air temples. Whenever we're staying in the Fire Nation we try to pop into the palace for a visit with the Fire Lord and his Lady… but we just call them Zuko and Mai. We see them the most. I haven't seen Aang and Katara since the six month anniversary of the end of the war, and I haven't seen Toph and Sokka since then either. Getting back together is going to be great, no matter what the cause is.

But they would probably look at me as if I was nuts if I came in with a happy, unfitting attitude. Just before we landed I pursed my lips and forced myself into a calm and dignified manner. Now I was ready to spring into action.

Just as I was opening the door to the barn we were told to come to I heard Toph greet us quietly without turning around. I was surprised see that she was about an inch taller. Sokka was lying down against a pile of hay, but he was flashing all these different colors, each of them bright and radiant, just like if he was being possessed, only, he was flashing quickly between the neons. I couldn't even recognize some of the colors.

Without trying to go blind myself, I slowly scooted down to sit next to Sokka as my eyes adjusted to the light. Without saying a word I stretched out my senses and searched for his aura.

Teo sat down next to me and I distantly felt him tracing spirals and other unrecognizable patterns on my palm with his finger. He was such a sweetie. Wait, no… not now! I frowned a bit. How can I work with Teo being so adorable!? I forced myself to concentrate harder. After a bit of time, everything fell away and I was slowly able to make out the light, glittering auras weaved around him without confusing it with the glowing. His aura was definitely still there, and still in dominance, but underneath that was a disturbance on the Spirit level. It was like a battle, but Sokka was only at the receiving end, not the prize they were fighting for.

"It's like all the Spirits are fighting for the same space, only that space isn't Sokka's body right now. Kind of like throwing a rock in a pond and creating waves. The waves hit places that the rock never meant to go." I said slowly, making sure I made some kind of sense.

"So, what are the Spirits bickering about, and why did you drag us all the way here for it?" I heard a low and sarcastic voice that I recognized and missed so much. I dropped my concentration and spun around to see the doorway; my suspicions were confirmed.

"Mai!" I squealed and ran over and wrapped my arms around her in a hug. She stood there surprised for a brief moment, before returning the hug.

"Well, it was good to know I was missed!" She smirked, and I dragged them over towards the circle we were quickly forming around Sokka.

"So, why did we all have to come here?" Zuko asked as I continued to drag them. His eyes widened as he saw Sokka's Technicolor condition. Teo nodded and Mai stood wide-eyed too. Toph tilted her upper body to face them and for the first time since we came here, I saw her face lifted into a smirk.

"That answer your question?" Toph remarked, before turning back and rubbing Sokka's head with a cloth.

I wanted to catch up with all of them, but all we could do was sit, and wait for Aang and Katara to come. I did everything I could, examining his body, and checking his head to see if he was hurt in any way, or if he was picking up a strain.

"I'm not hurt Ty Lee." Sokka said for the first time before he let out a loud cough. Teo, Mai, Zuko and I jumped at the sound of his voice. Toph rose her eyebrows and smirked again slightly as she reached for a ladle and gave him some water.

"Wait, so he's not possessed?" Mai asked.

"No, but I think he's picking up on something in the Spirit World." Toph explained.

We all nodded, and I was thinking over what could possibly be going on in the other realm.

_War? _

_Did the Spirits even have wars?_

_Plague?_

_These guys are either already dead, or never were alive, why would there be a plague?_

_Famine?_

_Do Spirits need to eat, or even have food there?_

_Memory loss?_

_Now you're just being silly._

When I do find out what the problem is over there, then I'm probably going to be thinking "of course" then feeling stupid, but right now, I can't think of any conflict that the spirits would have with each other.

**Aang's POV: **Night had fallen, and Appa was still flying. We would be there in about twenty minutes. I looked behind me to see Katara who had fallen asleep in the back in the saddle. I sighed lovingly and dug a blanket out of a bag and used airbending to move it over on top of her.

I sighed again contently. I was almost completely happy. Then I sighed once more, this time sadly, knowing that almost was the key word there. I knew that Katara had missed them too, but I don't quite think she completely understands what it's like to have no one in the world, except seven friends you consider family; then only seeing one of them for two years. Katara means the world to me, but I still miss the rest of my family.

I wondered what exactly was wrong with Sokka. It could be so many things, but I had a gut feeling it had something to do with him being the Giver. Something must be happening on the Spiritual plane.

I sighed, yet again, this time in frustration. I silently wondered if the Avatar could take a sabbatical.

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**Poor Aang is exhaushted. Katara is just plain KO'd. **

**Ty Leo is an amazing pairing. In fact, I am the first person to ever include Ty Leo in a story! Help me spread the Ty Leo love! Please, if you're writing fanfics, add some Ty Leo goodness into it! And tell me if you do, I'd love to read it (depending on the other pairings of course cough cough Empress of pudding cough cough) Thanks guys!**


	4. Reunion

**Disclaimer: Hmm... nope, still not mine, but maybe if I concentrate REAL hard...**

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Chapter Four: Reunion

**Aang's POV: **I tapped her shoulder again, this time slightly harder. Very lightly I shook her a bit. This was hardly the skunk cat-nap she promised that she was going to take. This was more like an out-like-a-log hibernation type thing.

"Katara." I whispered in her ear. "Katara, wake up, we're here." I shook her lightly some more and finally she groaned quietly and crinkled her nose in annoyance, looking as beautiful and innocent as ever.

"We're here?" She asked, sleep still obvious in her tired voice.

"Mmm hmm." I replied. She sat up quickly, looking much more awake.

"Think they'll still be awake?"

"They didn't do as much travelling as we did, so I bet they would still be awake."

"Jet lag sucks." With that, she rubbed her eyes one more time and jumped off Appa, looking as excited as a person who is tired as hell could look.

She opened the door just as Toph turned around to face us. Both girls squealed and Katara ran over to wrap Toph in a hug. I took a second to survey the barn. Zuko and Mai were asleep in a corner of the barn, lying on a pile of clean straw. Mai was tucked under Zuko's arm, using it as a pillow and pressed tightly to him. I could feel Teo slowly getting up from leaning against the barn wall, and Ty Lee already on her feet, trying to join in the hug.

Teo walked over to me and waved; smiling widely. We shook hands before hugging briefly. When that ended, we looked back to find that the girls were still wrapped around each other in hugs.

"How long do you think they'll stay like that?" I asked. Teo shrugged.

"We may just have to wait a few hours." I snickered into my hands as Katara glared at me over Toph's shoulder. "Anyway, something's going on with Sokka." Teo continued.

At the mention of Sokka's name both girls abruptly ended the hug and I straightened up. He is one of my closest friends.

"What's wrong?" I asked. Toph moved aside and, in another pile of straw, there was Sokka, lying down, flashing an array of colors; several that have yet to be identified. Katara lightly gasped.

"Is he…"

"He's not hurt." Ty Lee said, cutting Katara off. "Our best thought was that there was some kind of disturbance in the Spirit World and Sokka, being as connected as he is to the Spirits, picked up on it."

"Why haven't I heard anything from Roku? Usually if something's happening, he'll come to me in a dream." I asked, although the question was fairly pointless, none of them would know any more than me.

"I don't know… maybe Roku's busy!" Ty Lee answered in a bubbly tone. Toph gave her a look.

"Yeah!" Toph replied in a voice mimicking Ty Lee's. "Don't worry Aang. Roku'll get a hold of you right after he's finished having tea with Kyoshi!"

Ty Lee glared at her, and Toph glared back. I smiled; thoe two were back at it again, just like old times.

"I'm going to contact Roku through Sokka." I announced, deciding not to wait until Roku comes to me. If this is serious, then we need to know as soon as possible. A thought occurs to me. "By the way, will I find him in the Spirit World?"

"Nope, he's sleeping now, but he's still here." Toph said, shaking her head.

I sat down and started meditating, waiting for the quiet calmness to overtake me. After several minutes I feel everything fall away around me. I reach out and touch Sokka on the forehead gently. That slipping feeling comes over me, just like it does all the time before I go into the Spirit World.

Then I opened my eyes and found myself sitting in the middle of a blackened forest.

**Katara's POV: **I ignored the exhaustion slowly creeping around me and choking my lungs like heavy smog. All I could do is catch up with my best friend. I hadn't noticed how much I missed Toph until I saw her again. We sat next to Sokka, and I was cradling his hand. According to Ty Lee, he was dimmer when he fell asleep.

Looking around, I saw Zuko and Mai cuddling together, asleep. Shortly after Aang crossed into the Spirit World, Ty Lee and Teo grew exhausted and fell asleep in another bed of straw, in a similar position to Zuko and Mai. They looked so happy together.

I lay Aang down in a mound of straw near Sokka. Then it was just Toph and me. We must have spent hours catching up and sharing stories of what had happened.

"Just after the six month anniversary at Ba Sing Se, Sokka decided to take me somewhere, but he wouldn't tell me where. It took much longer than usual because we couldn't take a rock wave, but we made it there in two months time." Toph said to me.

"Where did you go?"

"Believe it or not, he had found the letter from my parents, and decided to take me to go see them. He said that he wanted me to smooth things over with them. I was terrified at first. We reconciled, and did all the hugging and mushy crap. All the while I was tapping out SOS's to a laughing Sokka. They said they wanted me to come home and go back to the way things were."

"WHAT!?" I whisper-shouted; it came out sounding like a loud hiss.

"I know! I told them no way, then left. At least this time we were on better terms. I promised them that I'd write."

"Well, that's nice that you buried the hatchet with your parents." I said, smiling.

"Yeah." She said distantly. "So, tell me about the rebellions! That sounds like much more fun than 'oh pookie! I missed you so much! Why did you wait so long to visit?!' I'd prefer rebellions to reunions any day!" I rolled my eyes.

"As you know, Aang and I went undercover as Fire Nation Loyalists. He had to go around wearing hats for forever. We would find out who the leader is, then figure out the plan, report it to Zuko, then get some soldier's help to take it down from the inside. We must have taken out eight major rebellions, then a few smatterings of tiny rebellions that we could take down just the two of us." I summed up.

"Nice."

"Not really, kinda got boring, being forced to listen to spiel after spiel about how amazing Ozai was, and how Zuko is incompetent and a Traitor to the Nation."

"Yeah, I can see that getting annoying." Toph agreed as she pawed her fingers through the dirt floor. By lantern light, I could easily see how dirty and unkempt she was. Same old Toph.

"Forgive me for saying, but you're kind of a walking mud puddle. You know what? After this is sorted out, all of us girls should go out for a ladies night. Y'know, spa, dancing…" I was cut off by Toph's obvious groan of annoyance.

"Thanks Katara! Way to unmake my day!" I laughed. She hadn't changed a bit.

I heard another familiar low moan and turned to see Aang sitting up, completely glow-free. Sokka also started to fade from his color spasm until his skin was regular again. Aang got up and we went over to him. Sokka remained asleep.

"So Aang, got anything to make this day even worse?" Toph jokingly asked.

"How about the end of the world?" My breath caught as he said those words. I could tell in his expression that he wasn't joking in the least. Toph bit her lip.

"Knew I could count on you!"

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**Duh duh da duh! Da da da DUHHHH!**

**In the next chap. I'm gonna specify some more, don't worry!**


	5. The End of the World

**Now I'm going back to Aang's time in the Spirit World. You'll find out exactly what "the end of the world" is. **

**Okay people, I need to finish this before school starts (which is this wednesday for me hey! Stop laughing at me!) so I'm gonna crunch to write and publish as many as possible in the next two days. **

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Chapter Five: The End of the World

**Aang's POV: **I looked around as I stepped out of my meditative pose. The forest was black and brown. It was brown on the ground, where dead leaves were scattered. The trees were dead too, and were black for some reason. After examining them, I could promise that they weren't burned; just dead. I frowned as I looked around. I had never seen the Spirit World like this.

"Roku, I need help, where are you?" I say. I close my eyes for a minute, before feeling a nonexistent breeze. I opened my eyes to see Roku appear in a wisp of smoke.

"Hello Aang, it's good to see you." Roku said, but despite his words, I heard the upset in his expression.

"Roku, I think something may be wrong with the Spirits. Sokka; the Giver, has recently reacted to something that might've happened here. Do you know what's going on?" I ask. Roku's frown deepens.

"Yes, I know what's going on. There is trouble on the horizon." I sighed. I wondered if he could vague that up for me just a little bit more. Before I could ask, he continued.

"Several Spirits have become unsettled with the world, and the people on it. You know some, like Koh, and Wan Shi Tong. There are several others such as Ban Shua Ton, Jir Ma Si, and many more. They believe that humans have made a mess of the world we gave them."

"What does that have anything to do with the disturbances?" I ask, even though I'm worried that I know exactly where this is headed.

"The Spirits had just come into Grand Council, Aang. This has only happened once before, and that was when the war first started. They decided then to wait and see how it played out without Spirit intervention."

"What's the Grand Council?" I ask.

"The Grand Council is when every Spirit in the Spirit World comes together to discuss an important matter pertaining to the world, and whether or not to intervene on it. When the Grand Council comes together, the course of history is on the verge of changing dramatically."

"What happened during the meeting?" I ask fearfully, my voice at a whisper.

"Several Spirits wanted to wipe out all life and start again. And just as many decided that humans were on the right track to peace again, and wanted to leave the world be. There was such an uproar about it, that nothing was decided. It seems that the entire council was split down the middle. There were about fifteen more Spirits on the side of leaving things be. But in a Council of one hundred and thirty Spirits, people didn't stop to count."

"What happened?" My voice cracked slightly, and my mind was running though all of the possibilities.

"The angered Spirits in favor of wiping out all life did something drastic, that has never been done before; they left the Council, and separated from the rest of the Spirits. We believe that they plan to wage full war on the world on the day of the Winter Solstice, when they can come to the physical world and destroy it."

My eyes must have bulged out of my sockets. I held my face in my hands. This is bad! This is really bad! The Solstice is only two weeks away.

"How can we fight them?"

"You can't. No person is powerful enough to fight a Spirit. It would take about sixty people to possibly slow one down so either the Giver or the Avatar has enough time to send him back to the Spirit World through his body. It would be exhausting to send one back, and you're planning to take down fifty. They plan to come in a Spiritual wave, destroying everything in its path. It will look like a dark cloud sweeping across the horizon for two weeks beforehand."

"What happens when they come?"

"The world will slowly be enveloped in black. Even for the week beforehand, their building presence will affect everyone in the world. People will become more irritable, shorter tempered, it will be harder to work as a group. The sick will become sicker, the weak will become weaker. The most affected will be the Avatar and the Giver. Next will come the benders, and the non-benders will be least affected."

I gulped as Roku showed me visions of the future. I saw the black clouds on the horizon, and I saw it sweeping towards me, closing in like smog. I saw visions of people being engulfed by it, and I saw each angry spirit as they flew through the Spirit cloud.

I felt a rush of anger towards those Spirits. This world was finally coming close to peace again. I had worked incredibly hard to get it that way, how dare they try to ruin it!?

"If I wanted to try and stop it, what could I do?" I asked, now determined to protect the world that I helped nurse back to health.

"If you decided to try, the cloud will first come on the most eastern piece of the Earth Kingdom. It will be most concentrated there. If you can cut it off before it tries to spread, you may have a chance. Whatever happens, I promise that you will have every Avatar behind you when you go to fight. Good luck Aang."

Roku started to fade.

"Wait! Roku, come back!" I called, but he was gone.

I groaned and opened my eyes. I was in the darkened barn again. I could feel the sleeping forms of Ty Lee, Teo, Zuko, Mai, and Sokka through vibrations, and I could see Toph and Katara staring at me. I sat up and they came over to me.

"So Aang, got anything to make this day even worse?" Toph jokingly asked. I remembered what Roku had told me and my eyes instinctively lowered to the floor.

"How about the end of the world?" I asked. Both girls reacted the same way I had; in shock and horror. Toph bit her lip.

"Knew I could count on you."

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**Same ending as before, only now it's much more grim for some reason... hmmm... **

**Anyway, I'm gonna start the uber crunching now!**


	6. Nightmares and Rice Again

**Long chapter! I don't know if I'll be able to finish the story before I start school. I expect it to be twenty chapters. I'll try though. I finally have the whole thing mapped out. **

**Disclaimer: I hate orange. Nickelodeon would never let me own Avatar.**

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Chapter Six: Nightmares and Rice Again

**Zuko's POV: **I woke up feeling better than I have I a while. At first I couldn't figure out why, because I saw that I had slept on straw instead of the royal beds, then I looked to y left, and I automatically understood.

Slowly I ran my fingers gently through Mai's hair, so as not to wake her up. She was beautiful, and she was here with me again. I had missed seeing her every day while I was in meeting after meeting.

I looked around to see more sleeping figures, all of them in pairs. Ty Lee and Teo, and Toph and Sokka; who had stopped glowing. But when I looked over to Katara, Aang wasn't with her. Looking around, I found Aang awake, and sitting by the door. Just by his slumped posture, I could tell something on his mind.

Sighing disappointedly, I carefully moved out from under Mai, and let her lie down on the straw. Then I quietly crawled over to Aang, and put a hand on his shoulder. He turned to me; and the bags under his eyes confirmed my suspicions that he pulled an all-nighter.

"Hey, why didn't you get an sleep, the jet's gotta be lagging on you." I said, slightly worried.

"Well, the jet's definitely lagging, but I couldn't sleep, I'm too worried."

"About what?" Something must have happened when he first came that got him in the state of panic.

"The end of the world." He said simply. I gulped. That probably would do it.

"No matter what, you need sleep. Just forget about it for now. When you're well rested, you can deal with it better." He sighed, defeated, and I cracked a smile.

"Okay, see you in a few hours." I nodded in response and he went over to Katara, wrapping his arms around her protectively. The instant he laid down, he was out like a rock.

I smiled and yawned. Now that I was up, there was no going back to sleep. Besides, I usually get up at the crack of dawn to practice firebending before the day starts. I left the barn, to find a place with less burnability.

**Katara's POV: **Judging by the sleeping bodies, I was the second to get up, just like old times. No one woke up before Zuko. But I was always second or third. Both Aang and Zuko liked getting up at the crack of dawn. Usually I was third, only looking over to Aang, I saw that he just fell asleep recently. I suppose I would also have trouble sleeping if the weight of the world was on my shoulders… again.

Quietly, I went outside and pulled out my old cooking pot and started a small fire just outside the barn. I spent a few minutes looking around the barn for some type of food before I found an open large bag of rice around the back. I couldn't stop the grin from spreading across my face as I found an apple blossom tree a few yards away, and the apple trees near the corn stalks. I knew exactly what I was making for breakfast.

After a while, everyone started to wake up and began any morning rituals that they might have. Aang was the only one who didn't wake up. He probably wouldn't be up for another four hours at least.

After a while, people started to file outside. Teo and Ty Lee filed out first, chastely kissing. I still looked away considerately. After about a minute I looked to see if it was safe, and they were finally detached from each other, Toph was also coming out with Sokka lagging behind.

"What's for breakfast?" Sokka asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Apple rice. Your guy's favorite." I said, smiling. I wondered how long it would take him to realize.

"Kay. Sounds great Katara." He paused and stood up straighter, letting the knowledge sink into his sleepy brain. "KATARA!" He shouted, finally realizing completely that I was here, and he hasn't seen me in over a year.

He came over and crushed me in a hug. About two and a half years ago, I would've pushed him off and checked his forehead to see if he was sick, but now I returned the hug with just as much force.

I handed them the bowls of rice and they smirked. I got ready for all of Sokka and Toph's remarks about how they never wanted to see another bowl of rice ever again, but instead, their smirks just widened into smiles and they started eating the food like they haven't eaten in forever.

"I never thought I'd see the day when I could stand to look at another bowl of rice!" Toph said in a goofy/shocked manner. She grinned as she recognized her favorite recipe.

"And yet, here it is!" Sokka replied, grinning just as widely and eating just as hungrily.

I giggled as I stuck my tongue out at both of them. I had pushed thoughts about the upcoming apocalypse out of my head and focused on the day. It really was a perfect day for mid-September. The sun was out and warm, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and I was back with my family. Nothing could make it any better.

Lightly, I brushed my hand against my gorgeous betrothal necklace. We had decided that when he was fifteen and I was seventeen, we would get married. That would only be a few more months away. I just hope that we'll be alive long enough for that day to come.

I forced myself out of the gloomy thoughts that had snuck in. I was here now, I was alive now, I'm going to spend the time I know I have actually living.

Mai came outside that moment, tying something made of leather to her arm. It had little pouches where metal and wooden daggers sat comfortably. She sat down and I handed her a bowl just as a sweaty Zuko came out of the woods. The moment he sat down we all knew how hard he had been working by the smell that followed.

"Yuck Zuko! What pile of 'mud' have you been rolling around in?" Toph asks, punching him in the arm. He winced and rubbed his arm carefully. Without thinking, I bent the water out of a trough and dumped it on him, washing away the smell. I scooped up some rice and handed it to him.

"You're not gonna dry me off!?" He asked angrily. I just ignored it, used to his temper by now.

"Nope!"

"You drench me in ice cold water, then you don't have the decency to dry me off!?"

"Nope!"

He rolled his eyes and muttered something incoherently before superheating his body and steam poured off him. He waited until the steam slowed to a stop before cooling his skin again and picking up his rice. He took a bite, turned to glare at me, but there was no menace in it; just a hint of annoyance.

I rolled my eyes and turned to look at Mai, who was getting her happy eyeful of shirtless Zuko. From her expression, she hadn't seen much of shirtless Zuko recently… heck, I would bet a lot of money that she hadn't seen much of any Zuko recently.

"So…" Ty Lee began, just as bright eyed and bushy tailed as ever. "Did we miss anything after Aang came and we conked?" Sokka sat up and every one listened carefully. Toph rubbed her lips together, and I tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear before nodding slowly. We were all exhausted after Aang came back from talking to Roku, and never asked for specifics, all we knew was the most general of details.

"Yeah." I began. "The end of the world."

Sokka coughed and I was afraid he was going to choke. He rubbed his throat and sat up straighter. Ty Lee and Teo sat bug-eyed.

"Wait, how did Sokka going all light show on us turn to the end of the world?" Mai demanded. I sighed, rubbing my temples. Toph nodded and picked up where I left off.

"We didn't get any specifics because it was late. We'll talk to Aang about the details later. All we know is that about fifty Spirits are going to end the world because they think that humans have screwed up big time somehow." Toph summarized everything we knew.

"Are you kidding!?" Zuko demanded. "The war is over now, things are actually starting to become peaceful again! How do the Spirits think we screwed something up!?"

"Gee! I don't know! When Aang wakes up maybe he can go back to the Spirit World so he can take some pissed off Spirit's testimonies!" Toph yelled back. I was shocked. She rarely ever lost her cool. The last time I remembered her screaming was when we didn't want to let Zuko into the gaang.

"Guys, calm down. It's not that big of a deal! When Aang wakes up we'll get all the details. Until then, just eat your rice and be patient!" Toph sighed.

"You're right Katara, sorry." I nodded at Toph's apology.

"Just be patient?" Zuko asked, slightly calmer, but still annoyed. "Shouldn't we be making plans, or coming up with a strategy of stopping them?" Sokka came in to save my butt this time.

"Not until we know what we're up against. Whatever it is, it can wait for a few hours while Aang rests. He looked tired when I saw him." Sokka said wisely. I couldn't agree more.

"He's asleep." Zuko pointed out.

"You know that's not what I mean. Speaking of which, you look tired too. A little rest may be good for both of you." Sokka said wisely. That is probably one of the smartest things I've ever heard him say.

"What about you?" Zuko shot back.

"I've been sleeping for about six days straight. I think I'm good." He said, smiling.

I finished my bowl of rice and pulled some water out of the air to wash it off. I then washed off the now empty pot, drenched the small fire, and packed away the gear.

"I'm going to go practice waterbending." I announced. "When you're done, just wash off the bowls and stick them in that bag." With that I took off, drenching Zuko one more time before disappearing into the woods in search of a stream.

**Aang's POV: **There was a black cloud. It came closer and closer. I turned to my left, and Ty Lee and Teo were enveloped in it, Ty Lee buried in hiding as Teo wrapped himself protectively around her. I turned to the right and saw Mai and Zuko disappearing behind the smog, they were crying as they kissed one last time. Turning around I saw Sokka move Toph behind him as he drew his sword to protect her. She was behind in a stance but looked terrified. Then the blackness swept them up too. Turning back around I saw Katara, tears streaming down her face, her hair had fallen out of the low bun she kept part of it in. I tried to run to her, but I couldn't move. She reached out for me, and I screamed for her to run faster. She was almost there just before the cloud swept her up too. I screamed in anguish. Then the face of an owl with eyes glowing black flew at me.

I screamed as I sat up. I was drenched in sweat and panting heavily. It had all seemed so real and lifelike. I spun around to find myself lying in an empty barn. Shakily I stood up and tried walking around. I kept my eyes on the floor to make sure that I knew where I was walking. From the corner of my eyes, I saw that my hands were trembling and twitching uncontrollably.

I slowly walked to the door and carefully opened it. I saw Sokka and Zuko practicing with their swords. Toph was talking with Mai. Ty Lee and Teo were practicing together. Katara was getting ready for some kind of meal. By the sun's spot in the sky, my guess was lunch. Wait… lunch? How long was I out?

"Aang! Hey, you're back in the world of the living!" Sokka called, and the sword fight ended. Everyone turned and came over to me. I remembered that I hadn't seen Sokka in forever, and when he hugged me, I hugged him back.

Zuko was more to the point.

"Aang, we need to know more about what Avatar Roku told you, and now! What's going on?"

"Oh, Zuko! He just got up, give him time to recuperate before you start hounding him for information." Katara reprimanded him. I just sat in a numb daze, watching the whole thing.

"You said that before when he was asleep. For all you know, we don't have more than a week to save the world! So clearly, we don't have time to recuperate!"

"For the past three years, nonstop he's been working hard to bring balance to the world. The least we can do is give him a few more hours to fully wake up." Katara had now turned to him and was yelling. Zuko had also raised his voice, and I finally snapped out of my trance and saw what was happening.

_Flashback:_

"_People will become more irritable, shorter tempered, it will be harder to work as a group. The sick will become sicker, the weak will become weaker. The most affected will be the Avatar and the Giver. Next will come the benders, and the non-benders will be least affected."_

_End Flashback: _

"Guys, calm down! Thank you for your concern Katara, but I am fine. Zuko is right. We don't have much time. Two weeks in fact." Zuko smiled smugly and Katara glared. I hadn't seen her glare at anyone with that much ferocity since she didn't want Zuko to join the group.

Katara came to sit by the pot of, what looked to be rice. I couldn't help but smile at the old memories of all those bowls of rice. Everyone followed her and sat in a circle around the pot. I joined the circle, sitting next to Katara. Zuko sat across from me.

"Okay, as you should know, about fifty some odd spirits became angry with the way humans have been treating the world, and wanted to end it so they could start over. The other eighty Spirits in the Council didn't want them waging Total War on the world, so those angry spirits broke away from the council. Now, on the day of the Winter Solstice, in two weeks, they're going to come to the physical world in a type of black wave, or a huge cloud of black smog and surround the world, wiping out all life." I summed up. The girls stood speechless as I'm sure they were imagining what it might look like.

"What should we do? Is there any way we can stop it!?" Zuko demanded. I should've known that he'd never end up speechless.

"The Spirit Wave will be most concentrated on the eastern edge of the Earth Kingdom. If we're to win, we need to cut them off before they spread. It'll be exhausting for both of us, but if we can slow down a Spirit for a few seconds, Sokka and I can drag it back to the Spirit World through our bodies. Roku said that it's tough, and exhausting, but doable." I said, feeling a small headache crawl through my skull and teasing at my temples.

"But where will we get the amounts of people to fight in this battle?" Teo asked. I shrugged.

"We would need at least fifty people to slow down one spirit long enough for me or Aang to drag him back. We don't have the influence to convince enough people into a suicide battle." Sokka stated sadly. We nodded quietly before Zuko sat up slowly.

"I could start a draft…" Zuko began. I cut him off before he could talk any more.

"No. There is no way we could force anyone to fight an almost hopeless battle, knowing full well that most of them will die. The soldiers have to be volunteers, otherwise I wouldn't be able to live with myself… neither could you." I told him sternly. He nodded slowly, knowing the truth in it.

"You may not have to." Toph mumbled quietly, but not quietly enough. I rubbed my sore head.

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**I'll try to update soon. Until then (I still hate riding you guys about this) please review. **


	7. Goodbye Again

**School starts tomorrow, so this will have to get behind it in the priorities line, but I'll try to work on it over the weekends. With luck it'll be done in two weeks time.**

**Where are all my reviewers? Come back! Sob! They left meeeeeeeeee!**

**Disclaimer: I don't have reviwers either.**

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Chapter Seven: Goodbye Again

**Mai's POV: **Even after all the rest of the day, we hadn't been able to think of a single good plan except rally volunteers to fight for the world, then fight. We knew that we were just on a hope that we could win. We were at our best right now, but soon, according to Aang, we'll all be feeling ten times worse. I suppose I'm lucky. The Avatar and the Giver are hit hardest, followed by the benders. All the non-benders like Ty Lee and me aren't hit nearly as hard.

Today, I woke up slightly confused. There was no Zuko when I woke up. Over the past few days I had gotten used to him being there again. At first I assumed he was training. Then I found the note.

_Dear Everyone, _

_I have gone back to the Fire Nation to rally troops to fight. I won't be starting a draft because you were right Aang. No one should be forced to fight. All I can hope for is that they will choose to fight. Mai; I'm sorry I left you behind… again. I know we were just getting back into the groove of seeing each other again. When this is all over, I promise that I'll make it up to you. _

_Zuko_

I showed the letter to everyone, slightly upset. I don't know why he had to go running off like this without me. I really hope he's not jumping into things again without thinking.

"Well, he's finally doing something besides yelling and interrogating people! He's finally doing something helpful!" Toph said. I knew she was joking, but I just felt something in me snap. Somewhere in me, I knew it was the Spirit Wave's before effects, but I didn't stop to think about that.

"Don't say that! Zuko's taking this more seriously than a lot of you! Just because he's slightly more on the edge doesn't mean he isn't being helpful! That's just his way of solving things! You have no right to be mean to him!"

"I was joking! It's not that big of a deal!" She yelled back, just making me that much angrier.

"That's what you're always doing! What's up with you!? You're always finding some way to be brash and mean to everyone, even your friends! Why do you feel the need to tease everyone!? Didn't you say Aang and everyone were your first friends, I'm not surprised! No one wants to get to know you because all you do is continually degrade them!" I didn't mean half of what I was screaming, but I just felt the need to scream. I knew I would regret saying this later.

"What's wrong with me!?" Toph screeches. "All I know is that we might all die in two weeks, and I don't even want to think about that possibility, but it's there! Now we are supposed to get more bitter and even more temperamental. Now jokes are all I have; that's all I can do to make things slightly brighter!" I sighed as she said that. I hung my head slightly, realizing exactly how much the cloud was already in our heads. Toph spun around and stormed off into the woods. I spun around and threw six arrows at the barn door, loudly grunting in anger, I pulled the arrows out, and walked away to practice by the apple trees, leaving the shocked group behind.

**Toph's POV: **Only after two hours of throwing rocks around did I come to realize how silly our fight was. We let one badly taken comment of mine fire up into a huge rift between us as friends. I still remembered what she said though. She was right about me. Because of my brash outside, people never wanted to get to know me. How Sokka put up with me was a miracle.

I quietly walked back to the barn, not bothering to earthbend my way back. I saw Mai quietly petting Anari. I took a slow breath, and walked up to her.

"Listen, I'm sorry for losing my cool, and you were right, that comment had no helpfulness or usefulness, or even funniness. I was just being mean. Plus, you had every right to be upset because I was pretty much calling Zuko unhelpful, when really he's been the most useful person here, and he just left to continue helping us." She turned to me.

"No, I still had no right to say what I said, and I meant almost none of it. I went haywire for something I usually wouldn't care about. I was overeating, and letting the spiteful Spirits have their way." She said. I smiled grimly.

"Yeah." I agreed before giggling. "I bet Wong Shi Tong is doing a little victory dance right now."

"What?" Mai asked.

"Oh, just a spiteful spirit we had a run in with a while back." She nodded. And I held out my arms to offer a hug. She came into them quickly.

"Don't worry, Zuko will be back before you know it, probably with an entire battalion of troops." I said reassuringly as she pulled out of the hug. I smirked. "He's probably pining away for you right now." I teased. She stuck out her tongue, but her heartbeat was laughing.

We talked quietly for a bit before I left to go find Sokka. After two minutes I found him. He had just finished talking to Aang. Thankfully, it didn't look like they had been arguing.

"Hey, what's up?" I ask him. He turns to me and comes over, I feel him frowning through the earth.

"Hey Toph. You know what Zuko did, leaving to rally soldiers in the Fire Nation?" I paused for a moment, trying to figure out how this conversation switched topics so quickly.

"What are you getting at?" I ask. I already know the answer.

"I'm going to be going for a bit too. I'm heading to the North and South Poles to bring volunteer soldiers back. I should be back in about five days." Sokka was leaving now? I felt like some monster had just ripped out my stomach for a snack. Slowly I moved a hand to touch my stomach to make sure there wasn't a gaping hole.

"Y-you're leaving?" I stutter out, cursing inwardly that Katara gave me her stuttering now as well as her babbling.

"I've already cleared it with Aang. I'll be borrowing Anari to make the trip. I wish you could come too." He said. I stared at him through my blank eyes.

"Why can't I?" I protested stubbornly. Sokka chuckled lightly at my question and I was positive I had just brought confused to a whole new level.

"You wouldn't like it. It's all snow and ice. You wouldn't be able to see a thing. Plus, you would be forced to wear… dare I say it… shoes!" I forced a little half smile out. He was looking out for me; he knows me way too well.

"No! Not shoes! Anything but shoes!" I joked before my face got serious again. "Come back soon, okay?"

"I promise! But now I have to go and pack. I'll see you in a few days." He called back to me as he walked towards the barn. I sighed, and decided to go back to throwing rocks around. This day wasn't shaping up too good.

**Aang's POV: **The sun is in the sky and it's a bright day. I lie lazily in the tall grass. Everything is perfect right now; if only I can freeze this moment. Katara comes running up to me and I stand up just before she throws herself into my arms. We fall back to the grass and I kiss her quickly and lovingly, cradling her face in my hands. Suddenly a black ooze starts to drip and crawl out of the sun; darkening it and the entire world. My attention leaves Katara for only a second, but in that single moment, something drags her away and scrapes my left arm in the process, leaving a huge gash. I run after her, though I can't see, scared now. I feel myself suddenly falling, fast. And the blackness swallows me up; muffling my senses. The last thing I hear is Katara's screams.

I shoot out of the pile of straw that I was lying in with a start. I was panting heavily once again, and drenched in more sweat. I was positive that if someone was to wring me out, we could fill a bathtub. I take several deep breaths and wipe my eyes with my left arm. When I open my eyes again; the first thing I see is red goo all around my eyes.

Oh Spirits! I look to my left arm, and there is the same long gash. The one from the dream. I shake my head a few times, but it's still there, and still dripping with blood. I take, yet another set of deep breaths before I go outside quietly to wash it off, being careful not to wake anyone up.

I finally got all the blood smears off of my arm and I froze a small strip of ice to my arm until I could get my other hand to stop trembling. After about ten deep breaths the shaking stopped and I was able to properly heal the mysterious slice. I paused and sighed deeply feeling the vibrations behind me.

"Hi Katara. I'm sorry if I woke you." I said slowly, turning around. She stood there worried, and I wanted more than anything to wrap her in my arms and block out the world. I was afraid though; I was afraid that if I did that, someone would drag her away again. So I just stood there.

"Aang, what's going on? Are you okay? Where did you get that cut?" She asked.

"I'm fine, I just had a nightmare." I said, now rubbing my head again as that headache I had before started to come back. I fought the urge to grab it in both of my hands and double over. "I must've rolled over something sharp in my sleep, I don't know when I got the cut. But It's fine now. Go back to sleep."

She came over to look at it, but I shied away from her touch. If she tried to look at it, she might feel the heavy signature of the Spirit's work.

"Just go back to sleep. I'll be fine." I repeated, turning away from her glance. I wasn't sure how much longer my self control could hold out. I heard her sigh and go back inside. I let out the breath that I didn't realize I was holding and started to walk over to Appa and pet him.

Momo jumped down off of Appa's back and landed right in my arms. I rubbed the top of his head before seeing something fall to the ground out of the corner of my eyes. I picked it up to find the letter from Zuko about his leaving. Hmm…

Ba Sing Se isn't very far from here, and the Earth King promised that I'd be welcome any time. Without thinking I scribbled a little note into the dirt with earthbending, picked up my glider, opened it up, then took off into the sky, leaving the quiet barn behind me.

**Katara's POV: **Without Zuko here, I thought I was the first one to wake up next morning, until I saw that Aang was not in the barn. I sighed, remembering our barely a conversation last night. What was up with him? I wish he could've confided in me like he used to. I'm not sure what was going on with him, but clearly he was not fine.

I stepped outside to find a dirty sheet of paper right on top of some scribbles in the dirt. Picking up the paper, I recognized Zuko's letter. I decided to give it to Mai when she wakes up; she would probably want to hold onto it until he comes back.

Looking down one more time, I recognized the scribbles in the ground as words. It was another letter.

_Dear Everyone,_

_I've left for a little while. I'm going to be in Ba Sing Se rallying more volunteers for the Battle on the Solstice. I'm positive we'll get plenty of help from the Earth Kingdom. I can't say why I left in a hurry, but I'll be back soon. I left Appa in case any of you need to travel. I'll be back in about four days. See you then._

_Aang_

It took me a minute before the words sank into my brain. Aang was gone. He'd be back, and he'd be back with help, I was just shocked he'd leave without telling me, or taking me along. Whatever was wrong with him last night must've put a drive behind him to prepare for this battle. I just wished he would've confided in me.

I left the note in the dirt, and went to the stream to go practice waterbending.

**Ty Lee's POV: **I came outside and there wasn't an Aang meditating under the Apple Blossom tree, and there wasn't a Katara preparing breakfast. There was Mai looking around for those two, and Toph was crouching on the ground with her hand touching a small rock poking out of the dirt. Teo was flying on his glider above.

"Katara and Aang aren't anywhere on the farm. They could be in the woods, I can't feel that far before ten o' candle." Toph remarked. Teo came down from the sky and the four of us looked at each other for a moment.

"I guess I could try to make breakfast. It shouldn't be that hard if…" Mai finally started speaking, but Toph cut her off.

"Hey, what are those scribbles in the dirt by Appa?" She asked loudly. Curiously I cart wheeled over to where she was talking about. It was a note in the dirt.

"It's from Aang." I said slowly, recognizing his name in print at the bottom. I skimmed through the note quickly. "He's in Ba Sing Se. He's trying to rally more volunteers for the battle."

"Anything about Katara?" Teo asked. I shook my head in a response after skimming over the letter one more time.

"Okay," Mai began again in her taking charge voice. We all turned to her. "I'll make breakfast. Toph, you'll stay and keep your feet on the lookout for Katara. Teo, you continue searching the air, Ty Lee, can you check by the stream in the woods, if she wanted to practice her waterbending, she'd be there." Toph and I nodded.

"Hey, um, why is it so dire we know where she is right now?" Toph, Mai, and I looked at him. He seriously didn't get it. I nodded at them saying that I'd explain it to my clueless boyfriend.

"For all we know, the Spirits can come here before the Spirit Wave and are trying to pluck us off one by one. If that's true, then we need to find Katara now, if it isn't then we're better safe than sorry." I said slowly. Mai nodded and Teo's eyes widened in realization that we had no clue what the Spirits could do before the Solstice.

He nodded and took off into the sky. I waved back to Toph and Mai before I cart wheeled quickly towards the stream. After a while, I came to the outskirts of the woods. They looked dark and menacing, but I ignored the lack of light.

After a while, I heard the bubbling of a stream and smiled. As I came closer, I found Katara with a large bubble of water hovering by her fingers. My grin became slightly wider, before I realized she was crying.

"Hey, Katara, what's wrong? This isn't about Aang leaving is it?" I ask. She drops the water bubble and rubs at her eyes before turning to face me.

"Hey Ty Lee. It's nothing, really. Just something I figured out." I must've looked confused because she cracked a grim smile before sitting down on the grass and motioning for me to sit down too. If I was in a better mood I would've rolled down to the grass before collapsing down on my back playfully. But this was different. I quietly walked up next to her and sat down.

"This really probably is the end of the world, isn't it?" She asked me. I was shocked by the question.

"No, it doesn't have to be. When the boys come back we'll have a small army, which should be enough to fight fifty Spirits. There'll be more than fifty of soldiers for each of them." Katara looked at me as if I was an innocent child completely oblivious to a sad fact. I waited for her to explain, but instead she shook her head, stared into the river, and started changing the subject.

"Our wedding was supposed to be this October. We were going to have it at the Spirit Oasis in the North Pole. Gran Gran told me a while ago that when I planned to get married, she would give me my Mother's Wedding gown. I was going to wear that. I guess I'll never get to wear it."

"Of course you'll get to wear it!" I insisted. Wasn't Katara always Miss. Optimist? What happened? "We'll have enough people. The world is not going to end! We'll make sure of it!" Katara looked over to me again, smiling sadly.

"I don't doubt that very much. If anyone can save the world, we can. Even if we saved the world, Aang won't be there for the wedding. There won't be a wedding despite if the world lives through this August or not." She said sadly, continuing to stare into the water. I was beginning to get worried.

"Why not? Why don't you think there'll be a wedding?" I was demanding now. What did she know that I seemed to be missing? Katara finally looked at me one final time with a forced smile, rubbed my shoulder, and stood up.

"C'mon, I'll see if I can't scrap up some good breakfast. I'm guessing Mai doesn't have much cooking experience." She walked off and I sat for a second, staring at her before I stood up and followed. I need to know what Katara knows. I thought for a minute. If anyone would know who was here, it would be Toph.

After a very silent breakfast, I ran up to Toph to catch up to her before she went off to practice. She walked fast, so it took me a while before I finally caught up.

"Hey, you deciding to pursue a job of a stalker, cuz so far you're doing pretty good. Not very subtle, but still good for a beginner." I bit my tongue to avoid getting angry, because I knew that tempers were short these days.

"Something's wrong with Katara, and seeing as you're her best friend, you might be able to explain to me what I'm missing." I said. Toph paused before slamming her feet onto the ground. A small, flat boulder appeared behind me, and I saw one behind Toph too. She sat down on one and waited for me to sit too. I sat quickly.

"Okay, so tell me what's going on in her head that you're missing." She said plainly. I paused to collect my thoughts for a second.

"For some reason, she doesn't think she's going to be having a wedding in October." I said. Toph looked at me like I was stupid.

"Well yeah! She's upset because she knows the world is probably ending in about a week and a half!" I opened my mouth to protest.

"That may not be true, we have…" She cut me off.

"…a miniscule chance of winning this battle. It's more likely than not that we will fail. Can you seriously be blind enough to see otherwise! And that's not fair to all the smart blind people out there!" She said annoyed. I bit my lip even harder before I spoke again.

"There is still some chance, so that's the chance I'm going to hold onto. Besides, that's not what Katara was worried about." Toph looked at me curiously. I paused, and she lifted her eyebrows, waiting for me to continue.

"She said that even if we did save the world, there wouldn't be a wedding. That's the part I didn't get." Toph's eyes widened as I said that.

"Damnit!" She cursed angrily, standing up The ground began to shake slightly. "Damnit, damnit, damnit!"

"What!?" Seriously, am I the last person not to get it!? Toph sighed and sat down again. The shaking stopped too.

"I knew Katara wouldn't stay blissfully ignorant forever, I just wished she could've stayed oblivious longer, for her sake." Toph said sadly.

"What?" I ask again, feeling very left out of the loop.

"Y'know how only Sokka and Aang can send the Spirits back to the Spirit World?" I nodded. "I realized when Aang told us that it was going to be exhausting to send one back. I realized that he was softening the details for our sakes. The boys think they're strong enough to do it, but sending a Spirit across the realms through your body; just doing it once is going to really weaken them. I almost know for a fact that they won't be able to do it twenty five times. That's why we have such a slim chance of winning. They're both going to exhaust their powers, and even if we do win, neither of them is going to make it."

I gasped at the reality in it. I didn't even realize it, but Toph was right. Both Aang and Sokka are going to die, no matter what happens.

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**Sad? Well there's more coming. Don't leave yet, there is much to be said. I won't say if I'm killing either of them yet, I'm just saying don't leave!**


	8. To Light a Fire

**Sorry it took so long! School has started and after three days, I had three packets of work, and three quizzes to study for. I spent the entire day rotting away in my room with the Scientific Revolution, factoring trinomials (hey, it's a review!), and goddamned french.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar, but I'm still hoping Brian and Mike will read this, love it, see the error of their ways, and give it to me. **

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Chapter Eight: To Light a Fire

**Teo's POV: **Ever since Zuko left, I've been training my ass off every day, practicing airbending furiously. I want to be as ready as I can for the battle. I suppose practicing airbending is really the only thing I can do; so I'm going to do it as much as possible.

I have been running through just about everything I ever learned. I've been trying to perfect it, add to it, empower it. When this battle comes, I'll be there, in the middle of the field, helping as much as I can. I haven't seen much of anyone else for the past four days. I'll see them at meals, but that's mainly it unless I have to look for something for something.

But it's still something. I want to be proud of me in this fight.

**Katara's POV: **I water-whipped the rocks that Toph had brought up. We were having daily duals, all of the girls, for the past two days. However, we have Mai use knives which have been tipped in sap so no one gets hurt. Now Toph and I were fighting. I smiled and sent a small wave at Toph. While she created a wall to block out the water, I used the time to swing onto a low tree branch and then shoot several ice daggers that pinned her to a tree. Toph moved to shoot a rock at my ice pins, but I was too quick. I had worked on my woodbending a lot while we were undercover. Skillfully, the bark began to crawl off the tree and wrap around her until her entire body except for her head and neck was incased in bark.

"Fine, you win this time Katara, but next time I will take back the title!" She declared annoyed. I laughed triumphantly.

"You wish! I just kicked your ass!"

"Barely." She grumbled, but for the first time in several days, there was no anger behind the grumbling. I heard Mai and Ty Lee whispering, but not quietly enough for either of us.

"I win!" Ty Lee whispered cheerfully.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Mai grumbled now. Once again, I didn't hear any anger. Then I saw Mai quickly slip Ty Lee a silver piece.

Instead of being angry, I laughed again as I had the bark weave and snake away from Toph so it could return to hugging the tree. Toph jumped down and rubbed her shoulders, sticking her tongue out at me. I did the same back while twisting my face up weirdly.

Everyone knows that Toph and I are almost completely even in battle skills, and a sparring match between the best earthbender in the world, and the greatest waterbender in the world is always exciting to watch. If Zuko were here we could also add in the greatest firebender. If we could find out where Teo has been disappearing to, I'd like to try sparring with the greatest airbender. As much as I feel like I'm betraying Aang when I say it, it's true that Teo is more skilled and more agile than my MIA boyfriend in the airbending department.

I walked up next to Mai and she lightly stuck her tongue out at me too; miffed that she lost a bet. For some reason, when she sticks her tongue out, it still seems elegant… if that's possible.

"Okay Ty Lee, let's have a go. See if you can beat the invincible." Toph bragged as Ty Lee rolled her eyes happily and flipped over to her. I cocked my eyebrows.

"If you're so unbeatable, how come I just pinned you to a tree?" I asked smugly. She frowned and answered without turning to me.

"There's an exception to every rule." She said quickly. I snorted at that.

"Clearly!"

Toph jeered at me one last time before she turned her attention back to Ty Lee. Just before they're about to start sparring we all hear a loud cry from a familiar hawk. Toph straightens up.

"Hawky? Shouldn't you be with Sokka?" She said. The huge bird swooped down gracefully before elegantly flying into a branch. I rolled my eyes. That is definitely Sokka's bird. It's even started to act like its Master. The Hawk regained composure and swooped over before landing on my arm. I opened the compartment and started to read Sokka's note, which was addressed to me, and me only.

**Mai's POV: **I watched Katara read Sokka's note. After a moment her eyes started to widen and become glassy eyed, like she was barely holding back tears. It only took a few seconds before she couldn't keep them in anymore. She spun to put her back to us as I heard her choke out a sob.

"I'm borrowing Appa for a day." She mumbled quietly, running back to the farm. She dropped the letter in the dirt and went even faster. Before we knew it, and without packing up her things, she was gone.

I slowly walked over to the small scroll in the dirt, and slowly picked it up, reading though the quickly scrawled note. I sighed in sorrow and my heart went out to the poor girl. I understood.

**Sokka's POV: **I had the troops all ready to go yesterday. Even from the North Pole too. They travelled over hear by fast wave. From the South Pole we had about half a day's trip by wave back to Whale Tail Island.

Then it had happened.

Gran Gran had been sick for months, and it was nothing new. Only, according to Pakku, who recently married her for real, she became much sicker over the course of this week. I had been having nightmares all through this week about the same chestnut colored Moose Bear face in an Ape Gorilla body, and the stomachaches were killer, but at least I could walk, and run, and is able to move any part of my body.

I just sent Katara the message early this morning. If I was right, she should be here in only minutes now. I continued pacing just outside the ice hut. I felt like there was an invisible shield not allowing me to go into that hut. I didn't want to go in, because I couldn't bear to see my last living relative besides Katara hurt like that, but I wanted to be there for her for as long as she has left.

NO! Don't think like that! I commanded at myself. She WILL get better. She has to. I continued my pacing. What I needed right now was my mother to tell me it was all right and to tell me what to do to help. No… what I really needed right now was my sister.

As if the answer to my prayers, I heard the low roar of Appa. I turned to see the familiar ton of fluff land, and I saw my sister jump off Appa clumsily; falling into the snow like we used to do when we were kids. She didn't let that stop her. She just stood up, and continued running until she had pressed herself against my chest, sobbing into it.

I realized that, for once, I have to take care of her instead of her taking care of me. It had only happened once before; when Mom died. She was miserable and in a similar state for three full days before she put her grief aside and began to take care of me and Dad, just like she always did. Now she needed help again.

I wrapped my arms around my baby sister tightly. For moments she sat there, sobbing into my coat. Finally, she pulled away.

"Is there anything I can do?" She asked. She ran through the door, breaking the shield effortlessly, and I barely had the strength to follow her through. Once again, I was depending on Katara for strength.

Pakku sat inside, caressing Gran Gran's hand as he sat cross-legged next to her. He didn't know how to heal. For once, he was useless.

Katara slid over to Gran Gran's side immediately, pulling a small handful of water out of the floor and warmed it up to body temperature before she started examining Gran Gran all over her body. Finally she stopped near the top of her chest. Something was clearly not functioning right over in that area.

I waited for several painfully long moments before I saw her close her eyes. She only closed her eyes during healing when she was having trouble. My breath caught as I watched Katara do everything she could to help. Her bottom lip was trembling, and even though her eyes were tightly squeezed closed, I still saw a tear streak down her face as drip onto her chin.

"There's nothing else I can do." She said sadly to no one in particular. Then she turned to look only at me. "You know what's making it worse, but there's also something there of a similar aura that's not allowing her to take any healing. I couldn't do much of anything."

I crouched down next to her and rubbed her back slowly, hoping it would be at least slightly comforting. "You did everything you could." I whispered to her.

We waited there for several minutes, watching Gran Gran's chest rise and fall slowly. Then, we heard a slight sound, and turned to see Gran Gran tentatively open her eyes. I heard Katara's gasp in joy, because she thought that she had actually saved her. But Pakku and I both knew that this meant she was about to die, and using up her last bit of strength to say goodbye.

"Gran Gran!" Katara gasped, wrapping her in an awkward hug. Gran Gran struggled to return it for two seconds before she settled for touching Katara's arm lightly.

"My sweet Katara, look at how you've grown. You look just like the beautiful and proud woman your mother was. You remind me so much of her." Katara smiled softly, crying. Gran Gran turned to me and I quickly wiped my eyes.

"Oh Sokka! My grandson, how much you've grown too! You have a sword!" She added in surprise. I laughed and tried without success to swallow the lump in my throat. New tears were coming up.

"Yeah." I choked out. "I have a sword now… but I still have my boomerang too." She smiled and nodded. I realized that we weren't talking about my weapons.

You've really become a man. I'm so proud of you… both of you." In only a few years you've grown up so much, and are both strong and proud people. I wish I could have seen you mature and grow, I wish I could follow you as you continued to grow. But I want you to know that I love you, and am proud of you, and wish you all the best for the rest of your lives."

"I love you too, Gran Gran!" I managed to choke out. Katara burst out into a new round of tears.

"I love you too, just hold on for nine more days then it'll get better. You'll be fine by then! Just hold on for nine more days! Don't leave us! We need you!" Katara tried to scream through the tears, but it lacked volume.

"You don't need me anymore, you aren't the same dependent children that I had to take care of after the men left to fight in the war. You are now strong and independent, and know how to take care of yourselves, and I couldn't be prouder. I know I won't last much longer. Goodbye, Katara, goodbye Sokka, I love you both." She whispered, smiling sadly before she closed her eyes. We saw her slowly breathe out in what would sound like content.

Then she was gone.

"NO!" Katara screamed, the tears following freely now. She pulled a large amount of water out of the floor and wrapped Gran Gran in it, twirling her hands around intricately, her tears streaking and staining her face. "No! Gran Gran, come back! You can't leave us now! Come back! Just hold on a bit longer!" She dropped the water and hugged her. Crying into the crook of her neck. She started whispering. "No! No! No!"

I felt tears stream down my freely, as I hugged my legs tightly to my body and cried into my knees, not wanting anyone to see me.

The Spirits did this; those spiteful Spirits. They did this on purpose to weaken us. They cut off the last person we had left in our poor and fragmented family, thinking we'd be weakened. I felt like I had burst into flames right then. The anger spewed out of me like an uncontrollable wave. How dare they!? How dare they take away the last person in our family?! How dare they hurt my poor broken sister one more time!? How dare they do this to anyone!? How could they so easily wipe out everything like that!?

I felt my eyes glow red in fury. They had hurt me one too many times. Now, when the solstice comes, I'll destroy them! They don't understand whose wrath they've brought on! I'll destroy them all!

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**I felt so bad, because the show killed Sokka and Katara's Mother, then I killed off Hakoda and Gran Gran, the last two members of their family. But I wanted to light a fire under them, plus, I wanted to explore them being forced to a type of loss where they're the last of their entire family. So they really have to stick together. I still feel bad though. **

**The next chap. will be shorter, and could take a few days to write. Sorry! **

**In the meantime, please review!**


	9. Ty Lee's Powers of Distraction

**I am seriously dissapointed with all of you guys. I posted the last chap. nine days ago, and do you know how many reviews I got? TWO! I ONLY GOT TWO! Now I never bug you about this stuff, but seriously, c'mon guys! If you liked it, tell me. If you didn't like it, tell me that too, and tell me why! Nasecoeur 42 and Mr. Average; you two rock! Thanks for reviewing. Both of you are amazing and I owe both of you big time!**

**Seriously, I love all of you guys, but I want to hear from you. The reviews are just about the only things that keep me posting!**

**Once again, I'm sorry for killing Gran Gran! I felt bad about it too!**

**Disclaimer: Do I own Avatar? Shakes magic 8 ball Magic 8 Ball: Don't count on it. Me: Damnit!**

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Chapter Nine: Ty Lee's Powers of Distraction

**Katara's POV:** Yesterday, Pakku had us stay overnight. Last night, I did something that I haven't done in several years. Sokka and I slept right next to each other. Not on opposite sides of the fire, not across a tent, right next to each other. I fell asleep, his hand under me, supporting my head. I needed the support then. I had felt hollow.

Early this morning I woke up to prepare breakfast solemnly. When Sokka and Pakku woke up, I handed them two bowls of rice. It was just plain rice. I didn't add anything to it.

When the sun was more than a quarter of the way in the sky (A/N 9:30) all the troops came to meet us at the boats from both the Northern and Southern tribes. Sokka pulled out twenty of the best benders and sent two to each boat. Pakku and I took the one in the lead. Everyone filed onto the boats that Sokka had assigned. I looked over the ocean to the horizon, but all I could see was water. I couldn't wait to get back to Whale Tail Island and back to my friends, who would comfort me. With the huge waves we'd be taking, it should be a half a day's trip, even less now that the tides were with us.

I jumped up at the same time as Pakku, and we through our hands back in a graceful movement and a giant rolling wave came up behind us and began to carry the boats towards the small island where my friends were waiting.

I overheard Sokka talking about a small field near the water that was a ten minute walk from the barn where the volunteer troops could set up camp. The barn and the field were separated by only a tall hill. I was still glad that the troops would be some distance from us.

I needed the quiet of the barn. I needed a silent haven to cry.

**Toph's POV: **Mai went into town today. She said that there was a kiosk with some exquisite, decorated knives she wanted to look at. She said something about knives that could be disguised as hair chopsticks. Personally, I don't see the point of decorating knives. If you're actually going to use them in a battle, the studded crystals or carvings won't make the weapon more deadly, or faster, or more accurate. It really won't matter.

Teo was gone too. No one really knows where he always goes, all we do know is that Ty Lee always seems less peppy than usual. I've learned not to ask her about it.

Not like I would though. I just realized, I was alone on this farm with Ty Lee. Of all people, I was with Miss. Peppy. She was probably going to suck me into a huge sparring session with her too.

As if on cue, I felt a familiar body cart-wheeling up to me. She sprung up in the air and I paused, losing sight of her for a few moments. I felt her reappear, very loudly, right in front of me.

"Hey Toph! I was wondering if you could spar with me today!" I winced at her high pitched voice that rung in my ears. One day I'll go deaf because of that girl. I paused and crossed my arms, trying to ignore the ringing in my ears. She began again. "Y'know, cuz Katara's gone and Mai's out, and the boys still aren't back. So how about it, let's go! I want to get you back for clobbering me yesterday!"

I sighed as the ringing in my ears was drowned out by her voice again, which only increased the ringing some more. I shook my head to get the sound out, then paused before I replied. "Whatever, at least it'll give me a chance to clobber you again."

We went to the usual sparing area; the large clearing in the woods by the stream, but without too many trees, and very hard-packed earth. I blinked as I felt around. There was something odd about it.

"Hey, something's not right." I said without thinking. Ty Lee looked at me and glanced around for a minute before she turned to me with what was probably a confused face.

"What? Do you feel something?" She asked. I shrugged.

"There's something here, but I can't recognize it and I can't find it." I said in a frustrated manner. I felt Ty Lee stamp her foot in annoyance before she straightened her spine and her muscles stiffened up.

"Is it dangerous? Is he a threat to us?" She asked in the best interrogation voice such a peppy voice could muster. I rolled my eyes at the question.

"Yes, Ty Lee! By hearing this person's heartbeat and listening to its breathing I can totally tell whether or not he is dangerous and I can also tell if he is plotting against us, judging on the position of its spine, because things like that can easily be determined by how it walks!" I sarcastically throw at her. She puts her hands on her hips.

"Sheesh! Calm down will ya!? It was just a question! No need to go all sarcastic at me!" She yelled back to me. I closed my eyes tight and knitted my eyebrows in annoyance. Ty Lee sighed and put her palm to her forehead. We both knew that this stupid almost-argument wasn't just because we were complete opposites of each other and happened to have some kind of annoyance rivalry going on.

"Sorry, I've just never had trouble locating where someone is, or what it is. It's annoying me." I said slowly, gritting my teeth at having to apologize. People are becoming wimps if they can't handle a sarcastic remark or two. I felt her relax her tensed muscles and nod.

"S'okay!" She said in her usual bubbly manner. I bit my lip one more time to avoid wincing at that voice. "Now let's actually spar!" She said. I rubbed my ear once then nodded.

**Ty Lee's POV: **I was doing okay, but not great. Toph was easily beating me. I constantly had to jump out of her traps, but could only go in one direction, which was away from her; in other words, I couldn't touch her.

I thought back to yesterday and smiled, jumping up and landing in a tree. I was about to jump when Toph stood up straighter and a large grin that I haven't seen on her in forever flung itself across her face.

"Sokka and Katara are coming to the clearing!" She cried out in joy. I smiled, understanding now. She seemed so happy; even more so when they actually appeared through the bushes and Toph literally launched herself into his arms. Then she went to hug Katara. Even from high up in the tree I felt both of the sibling's auras weighed down with sadness. Mai didn't tell us what was in the note, so neither of us knew what was going on. I moved to jump out of the tree, but my leg was stuck in a web of branches. I sighed and tried to get down.

**Toph's POV: **After quickly kissing Sokka, I turned to hug Katara. Both seemed sad by their body posture, then again, they could just be tired.

"Where're the troops?" I asked them.

"Back setting up camp in a field by the water. It's just a hill away from the barn. We came to see you. Where's everyone else?" Sokka replied, looking around. He smirked. "I mean, I see Ty Lee stuck in that tree over there, but where's everyone else?" He asked, pointing at the tree when he mentioned my sparring partner. I rolled my eyes at his bad rhyme and shook the ground until I heard a thump and felt Ty Lee land in a pile on the ground. I heard an "OW!" from her direction.

"I'd better go heal that." Katara said, running over to the acrobat. I turned back to Sokka smiling.

"Mai is in town shopping for some fancy knives, Aang and Zuko aren't back yet, and Teo is… well, actually no one knows. He always ducks in and out during mealtimes, but he's MIA the rest of the day." I summed up, frowning when I realized I was rhyming now too. It was annoyingly contagious.

"It's good to be back!" Sokka said, yawing. Then his mind seemed to shift elsewhere. "Now, I don't want any more Spirit interventions until the wave comes. Strike that, I don't want them intervening at all. I don't even want to hear about them for a few days."

I started to ask why, and if the Spirits had intervened with anything on his trip, but before I could say a thing, an invisible and non apparent force. I felt myself flying backwards before I landed near where Katara was helping Ty Lee up.

"Toph!" Sokka called. I shakily stood up and felt Sokka start to run to me before that weird thing came back, only this time, it took form and I could clearly feel it. It was a Spirit with human legs which slowly changed to a body of a snake with long, sharp claws attached to arms.

"Giver." It hissed, standing in between Sokka and me, Katara and Ty Lee. "I have bisssssnesssss with you." It held out the s's and drew out the word "business" in a creepy way. What business? He grabbed Sokka by the arm and lifted him up.

I frowned in anger and confusion. I didn't like that sound of "business" and didn't wait to ask questions. I slammed my foot hard to open up a crack in the ground. I felt the crack run up to the Spirit before he quickly stopped it with some type of anti-bending. He laughed as I stood confused.

"Ha ha! Niccccce tttry little girl; that almossssst ssssucccccceeded in touching me. " The snake swiveled to sneer at me. What had went wrong? I tried pulling some jagged rocks out of the ground, but he expertly broke each one just as it started to come up. It was like he saw what I was going to do before I did it.

Katara frowned in anger before charging at the Snake Spirit with a large wave in toe. I felt her come within six feet of the Spirit before he flung his free arm out in Katara's direction, and she went flying just like I had. The wave splashed around him harmlessly, he didn't make any movements to tell if he got touched with a single drop of water.

"Sssssssstupid kidssss! I am the Sssspirit of Sssspeed and Reflexssss! No bending can touch me, and I am the only sssspirit who can come to thisssss world any time of the year, and not jussssst on the Ssssolsssticcce!" He spun back to facing Sokka who was trying to reach his sword. The Spirit Grabbed the sword still in the sheath and unwrapped it from his body before throwing it into the tall bushes. "The cleanssssing ssssspiritssss ssssent me here to get rid of the Giver, to enssssure our victory." I froze at his words. I was unable to move. Katara bent some water out of the stream and reformed her thick ice sword before charging at the Spirit.

"Don't you dare hurt my brother!" She screamed as she ran at Snake Man faster than anyone I've ever felt run before. He turned to block, but wasn't quick enough to beat a sister's panic for her brother; she stabbed him in the chest. While he was shocked she pulled out some water from her water skins and bent his free arm to his body. Thank the Spirits she practiced with swords… well the good Spirits at least.

The Snake dude frowned, and I felt him release Sokka momentarily while he flung Katara back into the stream and yanked the ice blade out of his chest and broke the bindings on his arm. In that time, I felt Sokka's sword and bent the space sword right into Sokka's hand. He tapped out a thanks.

The Snake Spirit turned back to Sokka and I could've sworn his nails/claws grew until he had a sword-like thing on his hand. The Spirit attacked Sokka, and then a somewhat fight began, all the while, the Snake was talking to us.

"Niccce try, but I didn't come to sssstay, ssssso I am not in a mortal form. That will hurt a sssssmall bit, but you can't kill me sssssso eassssily!" I felt that Sokka was losing as he ducked around trees and rolled out of the way of the claws.

I felt Katara tap me, and drag Ty Lee and I into a huddle.

"What are we going to do!?" I whisper-screeched, I felt Katara smile and looked at her suspiciously.

"Look in the sky, don't you see?" She asked, I sighed impatiently.

"Yes Katara, because I can totally see what's going on in the SKY!" Katara reacted embarrassedly and I rolled my eyes.

"It's Aang, he's back. I'm going to quietly send him a message through the water in the air, but I need a distraction to help Sokka and so he won't pick up on what I'm doing." We both looked towards Ty Lee. She noticed and started furiously shaking her head.

"Why me, why can't it be you Toph?" Ty Lee asked quickly

"Your reflexes are just as good as his, and you have agility to top it. Plus, neither of us can touch him." Katara explained.

"Distract him, or piss him off!" I said quickly I began to push her towards the Snake who was attacking my winded boyfriend. She resisted and turned back to look at me.

"No, no, no! What if I can't do it, he ignores me, or knocks me back, or ignores me! I can't think under pressure!"

"Don't worry Ty Lee! I have faith in you! There is no one you can't piss off!" I said. She smiled and started a thanks before she realized what I had said and jumped up to glare at me. To try to help I sent a large pillar at him. He merely jumped away from the rising column and continued fighting, only this time he started talking to me.

"I told you little child, you can't help your ssssssweetie. I can't be overpowered by bending!" He bragged. Then that shrill voice cut though the air again with added peppiness.

"NO CRAP!!" She squealed, and I winced, fighting the urge to cover my ears. "What about nonbenders!?" She jumped in the air several times, and jumped around him several times, and even went in between his legs once just to bug him. He ignored Sokka now and started flinging his arms in order to hit her with his claws. She popped up and disabled his right arm quickly.

I felt Katara tap me on the shoulder and whisper that Aang was coming down and knew how to send this guy back to the Spirit world… into the judgment of the Spirits who didn't turn against us.

I nodded and turned back to the fight just in time to feel… the Spirit nicking Ty Lee in the shoulder. There was a long slash in the skin and I felt that there was blood coming out. She faltered for a moment and the Snake threw her back again into the ground where she scraped her back on the earth and rocks. Katara ran to heal Ty Lee, and in a minute she was carefully helping the acrobat up to her feet.

The Spirit turned back to Sokka who was still catching his breath and charged. Sokka didn't have time to react, and he had tripped and his sword was knocked a good ten feet away.

"Goodbye Giver, I'll be back to kill you again nine days into your next life. See you soon." Both Katara and I reacted fearfully to his words, and began to run at the monster who was about to shish-kabob my boyfriend.

He swung his arm up, before starting to bring it down, but I never felt the contact being made from the Snake's claw to Sokka's frantic heart. What I did feel was Aang touching the Spirit's forehead with his hand. He literally fell onto the Snake's forehead.

There was a surge of power through the earth, and the Spirit slowly disappeared from the earth, into Aang's body. The fourteen year old Avatar struggled and squirmed a bit painfully, until I only felt Aang again. Aang continued down to touch the ground in an awkward standing 

position, his body trembling frighteningly/ His legs gave out on him, and he tumbled to the ground.

Katara ran to her boyfriend as I sped over to Sokka, hugging him tightly. I rocked back and forth a little and he sat up slightly. I could hear his pounding heart.

We both turned to see Katara looking over a still fainted Aang. I helped Sokka up and we both ran to him. Ty Lee stood over and stared at him, probably reading his aura.

"He's just exhausted," Ty Lee said after a second. "He should wake up in about five seconds." We looked over to her and I counted out the seconds on my hand before I heard a long groan and Aang rubbed his head slowly.

Katara smiled and helped stand him up, and helped him shakily walk back to the barn. He slowly recovered on the slow walk back. By the time we were right next to the Apple Blossom tree by the side of the farm, his footsteps had more or less returned to the normal flighty pace.

We paused while Aang leaned against Appa for a minute. If that was the after-effects of sending

A Spirit back, then I knew that Sokka and Aang would both exhaust their energy way before all the Spirits were sent back.

When Katara knew that Aang was okay, she turned to Sokka and hugged him tightly, and I was positive I heard a little whimper that one usually makes when crying. But it was so quiet, I couldn't be sure if I heard it or not.

"Don't you dare die right now! You hear me!?" She said quietly. I looked at her curiously before I realized, she hadn't thought about Sokka dying, she only thought about Aang. Sokka's heart skipped a beat before he replied.

"I promise Katara." He was lying.

I then felt him tap out a Morse message to Aang. "Aang, we need to talk."I turned, and walked over to where I felt the earthbender troops Aang must've rounded up. I decided to lead them to the hill, to set up their camp in the valley right by the Water Tribe volunteers.

**Sokka's POV: **Sure, I was shaken up by the hideous snake monster who was trying to kill me, but what worried me more was the after effects of dragging that one Spirit back for Aang, I was even more shaken up with Katara's comment. I couldn't believe that I was going to have to leave Katara right after we had lost Gran Gran, the last member of her family. If luck was headed our way, Katara would at least survive, even if she'd be the last one left in this small family.

I had realized when Toph reacted weirdly to Aang's summary of what we had to do for the battle. That was when I knew Aang and I was going to die.

I just wanted to make sure that Aang knew that. I waited for him by the Apple Blossom tree. Sure enough, he walked over a few moments after I got there. I took my finger out of the little hole in the side of the barn and turned to face him solemnly.

"What's going on Sokka, I need to go train the Earth Kingdom troops. Plus the Water Tribe troops too." I paused my train of thought to look at the young monk. His clothes were wrinkled and he was ever so slightly dirty. He had heavy bags under his eyes as if he hadn't slept more than two hours in about… five days. The five days he was gone.

"Hey, man. Instead of training the troops, have you thought about, I don't know… sleeping? Or bathing for that matter!" I asked, the words themselves were joke-like, but the voice was serious. Aang quickly shook his head.

"No, everyone has to be ready. The world can't end on my fault, so I have to make sure everyone is ready. I have to go soon, so, did you want to see me for a reason, or did you just want to ask me about my sleeping schedule?" He cracked a smile, but still looked sad. I frowned, dropping the subject and went back to my question.

"I just want to make sure you know who's definitely not surviving this battle." I said subtly, just in case he didn't know. He sighed sadly and nodded.

"I completely realized today when I sent the Spirit back. I know that neither of us is surviving. There aren't any other people on earth who can do that bring the Spirits back to the Spirit World. I know that we'll both have to exhaust both of our energies if we can send all of them back." I nodded sadly.

Aang looked curiously at me before he asked me a question. "Okay, I know that you're siblings, but why did Katara react so dramatically to your almost death? Is this because of Chief Hakoda, may he rest in peace."

I sighed sadly, knowing where this was going. "When I was at the South Pole, Gran Gran got much more badly sick. You know she's been sick for a few months, but the coming Spirit attack made the disease twenty times worse. I sent for Katara, and Gran Gran passed away just after she came." I said, not wanting to look Aang in the face. I continued. "Now Katara and I are the last of our family, and she doesn't want to lose her last living relative… but she's going to have to." I paused and fully realized what was going to happen to Katara if we win. An angushed face crossed Aang too as he figured it out.

"Oh no." I whispered. "Katara's going to have to lose both her fiancée and her brother on the same day." I said only loud enough so Aang could hear. He nodded miserably. We both knew that would kill her. If she didn't die in the battle, she'd die inside.

Suddenly I heard a sob and saw something move away from that little hole in the side of the barn. I realized who it had to be, and we went around to the front to see Katara running out of the barn in tears. She had heard every word of our conversation.

I quickly tapped out a message to Toph who hadn't gone anywhere, but looked like she was about to. She froze for a second, then nodded towards me and changed direction to follow Katara.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mai return to see Toph running towards Katara.

"What did I miss?" She asked.

"Katara's upset, Toph went to go comfort her." I didn't feel like telling her about the Snake attack. She nodded sadly.

"I'll go too." She said, starting to follow Toph, but paused for a second and turned back to me. "And Sokka, I'm sorry about what happened. Maybe she'll meet my Grandma up there. I hope they become friends." I stood there speechless as she continued to run after my girlfriend and sister. I barely noticed that a certain pink acrobat was nowhere to be found.

**Katara's POV: **I had a feeling Aang wouldn't make it, but I didn't know why, and I didn't even think about Sokka, but when they spoke about it, it seemed so obvious. Large tears rolled down my face again for the zillionth time in the past two days.

Toph ran up to me and I immediately went to hug her tightly. I couldn't let go and we rocked for a few seconds. Remembering that Toph would have to lose Sokka too, I wrapped around her tighter.

"Okay Katara, breathing… starting to become a problem!" Toph choked out, and a bitter laugh forced its way out as I let go of the hug. I realized that Toph wasn't crying, but it seemed she knew exactly what was going on.

"How long have you known?" I asked sadly. She lowered her smile considerably so the upward turned lips carried more of a sad feeling than a happy one.

"A while, I just wanted you to be in the dark for a while." She replied sadly. I looked at my feet and words just poured out.

"There's so much I wanted to do!" I said quietly. She just nodded and I continued. "I won't have my wedding, and I've been waiting for a year and a half. I wanted Sokka to give me away. I wanted it to be at the Spirit Oasis, and I wanted to wear Mom's dress. I wanted you to be the Maid of honor, and Mai and Ty Lee would be other bridesmaids."

"There's a lot that I wish I could do too. There are places I wanted to show him, and places he wanted to show me." Toph said, agreeing sadly. "We were going to be married when he was twenty in two years and I turned seventeen. We weren't sure where we would have it. We were planning to shove the cake in each other's mouth's and I was planning to miss and hit him in the middle of his face before I finally got it in his mouth. I can tell that he wants to do the same thing." Toph said sadly. She paused for a moment. I didn't know what to say, so she continued. "I wonder what happens to the Key if the Giver dies before her. Do you think I'll die too? I don't think I'll get married to someone else, because the "soul mates" thing was in our job description. To tell you the truth, I have no idea what I'll do after that, if we do survive." She said sadly, and I wrapped an arm around her to comfort her. She laughed bitterly and I looked at her.

"Maybe we'll both just waste away together. We'll grow old and stay lonely with each other and turn into old hags who live in a huge city like Ba Sing Se, and we'll live in the same house and yell at the kids who live near the house that them and their shenanigans are ruining the city. I bet they'll joke around and say something like "Shenanigans? We have shenanigans? Are they contagious?" And we'll just glare and you'll make a tree attack them and they'll run away. I'll bet we'll even die on the same day, within hours of each other. And we'll be thinking about Sokka and Aang just before we go; knowing we'll finally get to see them again." I smiled bitterly as I pictured us as two old hags scaring the children populace of Ba Sing Se.

"I suppose that's our future." Said sadly, agreeing.

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**Sorry Mr. Average, it doesn't get happier quite yet, but soon... however soon might not be as soon as I thought!**

**Review (if you didn't get the idea to do it from my rant earlier on. **


	10. A Fight, a Prejudice, and a Prophesy

**Three reviews this time! Getting Slightly better, but still... c'mon guys! I'm posting as fast as I can, can't you at least send me a one sentence review. I almost always reply immediately.**

**Toph's Hammer (): Sorry I couldn't reply to your review, for some reason it wouldn't let me. Anyway, I'm glad you like my stories, and thanks for the amazing review! Yeah, I for most of the series I was expecting their relationships as friends to grow stronger (like how Sokka would always go to Toph to talk) but that never happened and that bugged me because Sokka and Aang's friendship went nowhere, just like Toph and Katara's. I can't believe this story is the first time you've ever reviewed! I didn't think I was that special, but thanks! I'm honored!**

**Disclaimer: In some parrallel universe I own Avatar... maybe it's the dimension with the killer mushrooms... or the pillow universe... or the world without shrimp... one of those!**

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Chapter: Ten: A Fight, a Prejudice, and a Prophesy

**Zuko's POV: **I looked through the solid old telescope with the diamonds encrusted in. It was for the Fire Lord's use only. To tell you the truth, I really didn't care for it. It was heavy, with all the posh that they threw into it, so they had to make it smaller, ergo you couldn't see as far with it. I sighed and propped it on the side railing of the boat and then looked through it again. Just barely I could see the island through the telescope that is a small town's entire treasury. That means it should take the boat only three hours to dock.

I sighed in frustration, remembering when I would only go places either through the earth or on Appa. Both of those methods were faster than this ship. I turned to the walk to the main control room and approached the captain. He turned and bowed to me.

"Your Majesty, is there anything I could do?" It's been a long time since I was on a Fire Nation boat and talking to the Captain. I was chasing Aang then. I was more even tempered now, and more patient too, but neither had improved immensely.

"Captain, I was wondering if it was possible if the ship could go faster." I said respectfully.

"Not unless we want to endanger the crew, Sir." He said nicely. I remembered when I wouldn't have cared about the safety of the boat. I really had changed. I tried to hide my dissapointment, but he caught on. "Just try to be patient Sir." He said kindly. "We'll be there in no time!" I cracked a smile.

"I already tried being patient, but it was taking too long." The Captain smiled at me, amused, knowing it was a joke, and not just royalty being bratty. "Three hours is fine thank you. You've done an amazing job at steering."

"It's my pleasure Sir."

I left and went back out to the deck to look out over the water. I could now barely see Whale Tail Island in the distance. I looked behind be to see two warships trailing with the volunteers I could round up. I remember having trouble because the citizens who still believed that we should control the world were not pleased that we would be helping a world that wasn't theirs without pay and with a high death probability. Still, many people wanted to help. And I was grateful for their sacrifice.

I looked towards Whale Tail Island and sighed impatiently. Suddenly, out of the blue, the wind blew a sheet of paper right in my face. I blinked and looked at the ancient looking paper. My eyes widened as I looked to the bottom. I was right. There was a triangle with a symbol in it that looked like a fire. It was a prophesy.

I smiled at the memory of the last prophesy we came into contact with, and Aang explaining what it was and how it worked.

_Flashback:_

"_According to airbender legends, almost everyone in the world has a prophesy, and when they were ready, it would come to them. I wanted to go in and look for mine when I came here when I was 10, but Gyatso said it would come to me. He said it might be blown out in a storm and float around until it reached Appa's saddle and landed there, or a lemur would pick it up during its migration and drop it in my room, or something like that. Looks like you found yours."_

_End Flashback:_

I smiled at his words. It looks like I had. I looked up to the words and read them. Just like the last one, they confused the heck out of me.

_The smog is coming_

_The two won't survive unless…_

_The hushed will be smart_

_It must be arranged together, separation is playing into their device_

_Earth, Air, Water, Fire; in the circle, power will conspire_

_Fight fire with fire, the Hushed will understand _

The first part sounded like a jumble of words, most of which I didn't get. I mean, I know that the smog is the Spirit Wave, but that's about it. The next part just sounds like a collage of Uncle's proverbs. I remembered my Uncle sleeping in the room next to mine.

Well, figuring this out will certainly occupy me for about three hours or so!

**Mai's POV: **I remembered going into town to explore the large kiosk of knives. All of them were perfect were throwing, and each was gorgeously hand carved with gems and other stones imprinted into the wood or metal. I remembered seeing that breathtaking red one with clay flames licking up the knife for a handle. It was perfect for me, and I wished I could've bought it. It reminded me of my handsome firebender far away. My heart choked when remembering Zuko. Spirits how I missed that guy! I couldn't help feel jealous that both Aang and Sokka were already back when Zuko had left first. I quickly swallowed those thoughts, putting them into the back corners of my mind. Times were short-tempered, and jealousy is not a pretty emotion.

I stepped into the clearing where Katara and Toph sat on the ground. Both had been crying, and both just looked at their feet.

"I don't know how I'll continue without either my brother or Aang. Even if we win, and I live, I'll also die. Part of me wants to just lose. It'll make it quicker, and easier." Katara sighed. My eyes must've popped out of my head when she said those words. Was this Miss. Optimist, always stressing about the power of hope? It certainly didn't seem like it. I waited for a moment for Toph to brashly tell her she was being stupid. What Toph said shocked me just as much.

"I understand what you mean. I can't even begin to think about life without Sokka; he's my other half. That's why I try to avoid thinking about it, and why I waited to tell you." I was positively dumbfounded.

I walked out in shock and upsetness. I never said it, but I always looked up to Katara's ability see hope in the darkest of times and her confidence to pull everyone together, and I admired Toph's clear and calm head, along with her wit. Where that those girls gone.

"Katara, Toph, what the hell are you talking about!?" I demand, still surprised at them. "I can't even believe I'm hearing you say that! You sound like you've already given up! What the hell are you talking about!? " I yelled, a little louder than I probably should have. Both turned to me, annoyed.

"Have you been listening in!? That conversation was private, you have no right to spy! But if you did, then you know for certain, like we do, that even if we win, which there is a miniscule chance of that happening, both Sokka and Aang are definitely going to die! Now are you seriously wondering why we're upset!?" I couldn't believe Toph was yelling at me. My anger flared.

"I came to see if Katara was all right! Now I come and hear you practically saying you want the Spirits to end the world, and you're surprised that I'm confused!? I'm surprised that you're shouting at me! I'm surprised at what you're saying!! Get a hold of yourselves!" I shouted at them Katara stood up with a furious look on her face. Involuntarily I moved to step back before I caught myself, and forced myself not to back up.

"You don't get it!!" Katara shouted, I had never seen Katara like this. "You don't have to worry about a fatal guarantee. There's no promise that Zuko won't come back! When this is over, if we win, you can just go back to your life before and forget that any of this has ever happened." I winced at the surprise that Katara would think I would do that. She just continued. "Aang and Sokka didn't sign up for this suicide crap! They're forced into it! I'm sure you know that Sokka is the last relative that is still ALIVE! If I do manage to get through this, I'm ALONE! So is Toph! If it was just Sokka, I'd mourn for my brother, and the last of my family, but Aang would help me get through! It's not like that, and I won't have Aang! And Toph! Sokka is her other half! I'll always be there for her, and I know she'd do the same for me, but nothing can replace a SPIRITUAL SOUL MATE! Of course we're upset! After this battle in about a week, both of us will be alone, and have nowhere we belong! You're yelling at us because we're UPSET!!" She screeched at the last word, and took a step back, but still fired back.

"You could be doing SOMETHING! You could be training, or helping the troops train! You could save their lives that way! Or you could help increase our chances of winning that way! Moping around that you will lose people close to you won't do a thing to help the cause that they are planning on dying for! You could be doing anything! ANYTHING! And you choose to sit and mope! If that was me, I'd be training my ass off, or grilling the troops to make sure they're as close to perfect as one could get, or even spending as much time left as I can with him, anything but moping and feeling sorry for yourselves! Boo hoo! GET A GRIP!" Katara and Toph both stood silently for a moment.

"We're just afraid." She said quietly, looking down at the ground. "We're afraid for Sokka and Aang, and afraid for the future. But at least we won't have to be for long." Toph finished with a quiet hint of anger that hit me even worse than both their shouting. She glared at me for a moment before she turned and walked away, further into the woods.

Katara started silently crying again as she collapsed back onto the rock. My heart broke and I crouched down and started giving Katara "I'm sorry"s and "it'll be okay"s.

I barely paid attention to when the tree shook, as if something jumped off it.

**Teo's POV: **I was sweaty and disgusting as I came back from a grueling six hour practice. I walked back the same way I usually would; through this meadow then over a hill. When I got to the meadow today, it was teeming with people that looked like troops. There were about 1,400 Earth Kingdom soldiers, and about 1,700 Water Tribe soldiers. I wasn't Toph who could distinguish the footsteps between the Nations, then add up the numbers in my head in five seconds, but I was a good guesser.

I just happened to look across the water, when I saw three very large Warships approaching. One of the ships had an intricate front thing on it that looked like a Royal Warship. Yeah, I know I know nothing about boats.

I quickly created a large and fast wind so the ships would come to dock faster, and in around seven minutes Zuko was coming off the fancy ship, stretching out his arms. I went over and met up with him eagerly.

"Hey Zuko! Or is it Fire Lord while your subjects are watching?" I say jokingly. Zuko looks up and rolls his eyes. We shake hands happily before he smirks.

"Are you serious!?" He says in a jokey angry tone. "For not calling me Fire Lord Zuko, I must have you beheaded immediately!" I laugh and grab my neck in a feigned panic.

"Does this mean I have to be on the run for my life now?" I ask, wanting to see how nlong we could stretch this out.

"Yup! Leave now Teo, leave, and never come back!" He said gravely before cracking a smile and turning back to the troops to tell them to round up everyone and everything. "Hey, do you know where all the troops should go?" He asked.

"Yup, there are a bunch of soldiers, Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe in a valley about two minutes from here. I figured they were Sokka and Aang's volunteers."

I lead Zuko to the clearing, but the moment I came in with all the Fire Nation troops, an Earth Kingdom general pulled me aside.

"Sir, do you know the Avatar?" My eyebrows must've been up in my hairline.

"Yeah, Aang is a good friend of mine, so is Zuko over there. These are just more volunteer groups for the fight ahead." I explained. The General frowned and seemed to glare at Zuko's troops before turning back to me skeptically.

"Do you know one of them personally, and know for a fact that he knows Aang?" I looked at him, not sure where this was going.

"Yup, Zuko knows Aang personally. Zuko was Aang's firebending teacher." Once again, he looked as if he didn't believe me.

"Are you sure that's actually Zuko?"

"Yup, no mistaking that's Zuko… crappy jokes and all!" I replied with a grin, trying to ease the tension out of this conversation. The General didn't react to the comment, determined not to be budged from his grumpiness.

"They are still Fire Nation and the war has not been over for very long. For the safety of the troops sake, we ask that they make camp on the top of the hill, and demand separate training groups. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but we don't want any sour Fire Nation soldiers getting a little revenge for the war." I frowned. The war has been over for two years and the Fire Nation has been reforming incredibly. Is this guy for real!?

But his face stayed static and I knew that we'd risk losing troops to paranoia if I didn't agree. I grumbled and nodded at the idiot before walking back to Zuko.

"Hey Zuko, you can have you soldiers set up on the top of the hill. It's fairly flat at the top, so it should work." I said annoyed. Now it was Zuko's turn to get surprised.

"Why can't they just set up he…" I cut him off by quietly looking at his troops then mouthing a response.

"I'll tell you later." I whispered. Zuko nodded in a knowing way. I couldn't help but think that this has happened to the poor guy before in the past two years. Zuko sighed and took a deep breath before he turned to talk to the troops.

"We'll be setting up camp on the top of that hill, this valley is too overcrowded for all of our preparatory necessities. The top of the hill is more spacious and will better suit our needs." He said. Some rolled their eyes like they knew what was going on, but most just nodded; accepting the story.

I used airbending to help lift some of the poor soldier's loads, but that was about all I could do for them. I knew I was the Zeppo of the group, and that was why I was training harder than ever to do something. Each of the guys went to rally troops, and brought back at least a thousand soldiers each. The girls are the hearts of the group. They keep all of us guys going, they keep the hope going strong, they do all those little things like washing clothes and making food in order to keep us going, and to top it all off, they are gonna kick ass in the War/battle too. I've heard they've been practicing.

We finally got to the top of the hill, and I stopped playing pack Mule Donkey by gently letting the air put the supplies down. I turned to Zuko and saw him looking eagerly towards the barn. I knew what he was thinking about.

"Go get her, she's missed you like hell." I said without thinking. He turned to me with a look of surprise on his face, and an underlying mixture of guilt. I smile smugly and knowingly, and he made a face before he looked back to the troops. "I'll help the troops settle down. You go, have some fun."

"Thanks man!" He finally said with wide grin before he created a small and quiet flame behind him to use to zoom through the air. It wasn't as good as a glider, but he was gone in seconds. In around five more seconds, he'd be off frolicking with Mai.

I sighed, thinking about Ty Lee. I really haven't seen her in about a week. I mean, I've seen her at meals, but that's it. I haven't actually talked to her in even longer. I quietly dwelled on that subject while I tried to figure out how to set up these damned tents. I've noticed her looking at me differently recently. I don't know what, I can't describe it, and I can't define the new look, but it's definitely different. I don't like the new one.

I sighed and tried to put my girl troubles out of my head. I should really feel bad for Aang and Sokka, not me. They know that both of them are going to die in eight days. Ty Lee had told me all about the conversation she had with Toph. That was four days ago, and that was our last real conversation. Poor guys… doomed to die for the world. Poor girls, even if we win, they'll lose the person they love. At least Zuko and I don't have a guarantee.

That was the upside of being the Zeppo. I was one of the most likely to survive. The downsides of being a Zeppo; the major one was not being needed or being useless, but there were just too many downsides to count.

I finally figured out how to set up the tent, and put it up before I started on the next.

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**The prophesy was an my gift to Nasecoeur42. They've been asking me several times if I'm actually going to kill Aang and Sokka or not. I won't tell you, but I wanted to give all you people a hint!**

**Review.**


	11. Train Together or Die Together

**The next one, but please guys, could you PLEASE REVIEW!? I'm dying here!**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

**(This is for you Is! Since you demanded it!)**

**Disclaimer: Gloom Still no!**

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Chapter Eleven: Train Together or Die Together

**Ty Lee's POV: **It's kinda ironic. Everyone else's guys left to round up volunteers, and all of them were now closer to them than ever. Teo stayed here and disappeared every day, not helping with practice, not doing any of the little jobs that needed to be done, practically vanishing from sight.

I guess I'm a little jealous. Zuko and Sokka and Aang are all doing big things to help the cause for the world. Aang and Sokka are willing to give their lives to save the world, but Teo won't even help with the dishes. I mean, I am so relieved and grateful that he doesn't have to die, because it feels like he's my soul mate. Our auras blend perfectly. But still, I want to have something to be proud of him for.

I don't want to say the words I do feel right now, because it would be mean. Maybe the Spiteful Spirits that call themselves the Cleansers apparently are to blame for this, but maybe it's just me.

Embarrassment.

**Zuko's POV: **I went to go see the troops early this morning. I remember yesterday how I had just left Teo my work so I could see Mai. He offered and I was grateful, and I enjoyed the reunion immensely, but I still felt guilty. As I started walking towards the hill, I realized that my prophesy was clutched tightly in my hands. Oh well, I guess I could show it to Teo.

I expected to see the airbender overworked and exhausted conked outside of the Fire Nation. What I got was much different. I came to see that all the tents were folded and moved to the side, and Teo was running an early morning training session. He was having the soldiers spar with either one other person, or in a group. It was a cool morning, so the fact that they were drenched in sweat means they must've been at this for hours.

"Hey Mr. Sunshine, abusing my troops already I see!" I called out. He smiled and said something to a soldier who he was sparring with before wind running over to me. Apparently though, he got sweat in his eyes or something, because he ran into a tree. I snickered into my palm.

"Hey Teo, have an accident?" I asked. He groaned as he got off the ground.

"Nah thanks, I just had one." He said grinning. I winced jokingly. That was such an old joke.

"Wow, you must have brain damage if you're telling those moldy old jokes!" I said. He rolled his eyes. I dropped his amazing accident and looked around curiously. "Anyway, why did you 

take down the tents again? I mean, I know for practice, but why here… on the top of the hill… where many fires could spread?" I asked, although I could already guess the answer. Teo immediately frowned, confirming my guesses.

"That idiot General and his bitterness and mistrust towards everyone Fire Nation drives me insane! The Water Tribe warriors are great, very accepting, willing to accept change. But those Earth Kingdom Generals, not the soldiers, but the Generals are so stubborn. He thinks that a Fire Nation soldier who's fully armed could attack any one of his troops!" He whispered in an enraged tone. He kept going. "I mean, they're gonna be fighting an army of Spirits in a week for goodness sake! The least they could do is train together!"

He grumbled and I nodded sadly. I knew that some people would hold grudges. I was just upset that this one man was ruining it for everyone. Teo shook his head and automatically perked up a bit.

"I've just been training with the soldiers up here, because Aang is training the soldiers in the Valley. I swear, that kid would rather die of exhaustion right now than stop training. According to some of the girls, he's been going on only three hours of sleep a night." I nodded and rolled my eyes.

"I've heard of stressed, but that kid needs to wind down. He may be almost fifteen, but he still needs, like, seven hours of sleep!" Teo nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, you're right. Anyway, I've only been up since sunrise, so we've only been practicing for two hours. I want to give them a few quick breaks to wring out their shirts and stuff, because I'm hoping to squeeze in another two hours at least! I want to start these guys off slow. After those two more hours I plan to go down and train with the soldiers down in the Valley for another three hours. Then I'll be at my daily training rate. Maybe during that training I can kick some sense into those rooster pig-headed General's brain." I just gaped, quickly doing the math.

"You've been doing seven hours of training a day!? Aang didn't train that long when he was trying to master the four elements! Heck, I'm KO'd after two hours!" He just laughed good-naturedly.

"When you don't have the political influence to round up large amounts of troops and you can't do any small chores, then intense training is all I could think of. I'd usually grab an early breakfast, disappear 'till lunch, vanish again after that, and call it quits for the day right before dinner! Now I just get to do that with company!" I was still astounded but managed to close my hanging jaw.

"So, Zuko, wanna join in? I'm sure the soldiers would love it if their Fire Lord came to practice with them! Besides, I've really been wanting to try sparring with the best firebender in the world!" I wondered where he had that energy after two hours of heavy duty training, but he was an airbender, and he has been travelling with Ty Lee for the past two years, I guess that would explain it.

"Sure, sounds great! I'd love to beat the only regular airbender in the world!" I said smugly. He laughed competitively.

"Oh, you're just delusional because of the summer heat. You wish you could beat me!" He said proudly. It was my turn to laugh.

"Oh ho! You think you could beat a guy who was trained by the Dragon of the West AND two actual dragons!?" I said triumphantly, but after hearing about his rigorous training schedule, I had a feeling that he was going to win.

He won.

"Nyah, nyah!" He laughed and gently let me out of the air cage. I sighed and pretended to be grumpy.

"Hmph! Good game." I drolled in a pretend-annoyed tone before I cracked a grin and shook hands with him for real.

"So, anything new happen while you were away?" Teo asked as we started sparring again, only much lighter. I remembered the prophesy and stepped out of my stance.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Look what I found when we were coming here." I held it up and Teo looked at it in recognition, and confusion.

"The KP? Why do you have the KP, and what was it doing in the ocean?" He asked, curious. I grinned and opened it before showing it to him.

"It's not Katara's, it's a different one. I think it's mine!" I said in a proud tone. Teo smiled.

"So now there's the KP and the ZP?" I smirked at the name, then shrugged and nodded.

"I suppose. I can't figure this out that much though. I bet you could help. Wanna give it a shot?" I asked. It was true, I couldn't figure out most of it.

"Sure, I'm always up for mind pain from confusing proverbs!" He said. He airbent a quick table that had been folded away by the tents to us, and opened it up. He then used an air funnel to pull over some chairs. We both sat and I shoved the prophesy at him and watched him read it.

**Teo's POV: **I skimmed over the prophesy, then read it again to make sure I got it. This one really was different than Katara's.

_The smog is coming_

_The two won't survive unless…_

_The hushed will be smart_

_It must be arranged together, separation is playing into their device_

_Earth, Air, Water, Fire; in the circle, power will conspire_

_Fight fire with fire, the hushed will understand_

"I bet it's in the same format as Katara's. Each line is about someone different. Some stuff is pretty obvious, like the smog is the Spirit Wave, and the two who won't survive are Aang and Sokka." I said. When I mentioned Aang and Sokka's death, Zuko nodded quietly, looking solemn. He suddenly sat up straighter.

"Wait, they may not die!" Zuko said excitedly.

"Wasn't it made fairly clear that it's inevitable? Even the guys accept it!" I said skeptically and slightly irritably. I didn't want to talk about it.

"No, reread that line! It says unless! That means there's still a chance!" I noticed that and sat up straighter too.

"That's great! But… unless what?" I asked, wishing that the Spirits would just tell us. "It sounds like something has to happen, or someone has to do something, or think of something." Continued, frustrated. We could be holding two of our friend's lives on the line.

"Do you think the Spirits could vague that up a bit for us!" Zuko said angrily, I couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah, Zuko, scold that naughty paper!" I cheered jokingly. He sighed and bottled his annoyance with a grunt of frustration and pulling his hands out of the fists slowly. I looked back at the prophesy before opening my mouth again. "Maybe some of the other lines could help us figure out… whatever the heck we need to figure out!"

Zuko nodded. "Yeah, maybe."

"Who's _the Hushed_? We hear about this guy or girl twice. Apparently, the Hushed is going to be smart, and will understand something, but who is this person?" I said, confused. Zuko shrugged.

"These prophesies are always talking about people and giving them weird nicknames, then getting more confusing. This could be anyone in the gaang, or in the soldiers from any nation. I think we should focus on the other pieces." Zuko said. I shrugged. I had a feeling that this Hushed person was very pivotal, but Zuko was right. We don't have time to go through all of the soldiers.

"I'm most confused about the second to last line." Zuko said. He started to get annoyed at his confusion. "What does that one mean? _Earth, Air, Water, Fire, In the Circle Power conspires._ That could mean anything!" If this was a play, then they would have smoke coming out of his ears somehow. I shrugged.

"I don't know, yours is definitely more confusing than Katara's. Maybe you should bring it up with everyone else at breakfast. Anyway, I should get back to training with the troops. You're welcome to help me." I said cheerfully. Zuko stopped with the anger and started rolling up the ZP. I didn't need the help since it was only about 1,000 soldiers, but I would still like it.

"Would I be intruding?" He asked worriedly. I shook my head before looking at him. They were HIS citizens, and he thinks that HE'S intruding!?

"Not at all. You _are_ their king!" I said. He nodded as if he had forgotten that fact. I laughed and blew the table back to the tents with a gust of air, then walked back to the troops, Zuko behind me.

**Katara's POV: **Every day, Aang wakes up even earlier than he did before, then trains with the Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom soldiers for a grand total of three and a half hours. After that today, he, Zuko, and Sokka spent two hours staring at Zuko's prophesy. But unfortunately, no one had any ideas to contribute. I still haven't read it yet, but Aang and Sokka seemed slightly elated when they read it for a first time. Maybe there was a bit of good news for the first time in forever.

I decided to get some practice in with Pakku. Since none of the guys were there the troops were probably chilling or having some down time. Sokka and Aang train the Water Tribe and the Earth Kingdom for two hour intervals for five hours total. After lunch, I think they're done for the day, because Zuko is only allowed to work with his own troops, and work separately.

I came, expecting to see lots of soldiers lying around. Instead, I saw them in groups of fifty, practicing drills groups against other groups. On the side, I saw Teo yelling at a General who I recognized as the Paranoid Leader.

I felt like I was disrupting something big and important, so I tucked behind a Water Tribe tent that was fairly close to both Teo and the General, and the troops. From behind the tent, I could hear everything perfectly. I quieted my breathing to silence, and crouched on the ground to listen.

"Forget it! I'm going to take it up with the troops! One paranoid man has no right to decide for two thousand people! I don't care how high ranked you are!" Teo screamed angrily. Before he stormed away from the shocked General and towards the hoards of troops. I had never seen him angry. It's as rare as seeing Ty Lee depressed.

Teo looked furious, but he remained as practical as ever. He pulled over a young Earthbender of about fourteen and asked him to make a tallish platform. When the boy did, Teo climbed up to the top and threw a great gust of wind just above every soldier's head. They turned to see him and automatically paid attention. I moved to the next tent down so I could hear him better.

"Okay everyone, who likes the current sleeping arrangements and training arrangements!?" He called out to them like he had planned a whole speech, even though I could tell he didn't. Most of everyone raised their hands. He frowned and continued.

"Well, I can tell you about a thousand people who don't! Look up on the top of that hill! Every soldier there who has come on their own free will to fight a battle for the world that they know they might not survive. Because they lost the Hundred Years War they aren't fighting for themselves! In fact, they're fighting sixty percent for the Earth Kingdom, about twenty percent for themselves, sixteen percent for the Water Tribe, and about four percent for the Air Temples!"

I was shocked. Have I ever seen Teo like this? We're all pissed at that guy, but I would've expected Aang or Sokka, or even Zuko to blow a fuse. Teo is the quietest guy I know, and probably has the most even temper. I crouched there with my jaw hanging slightly, impressed.

"They're fighting mostly for you guys! Not their world, OUR world, our world TOGETHER! But none of you seem to act like that! They're just as equal as you are! Earth Kingdom will work with, sleep near, and train with the Water Tribe, and vice versa. But anyone in Red and Black armor gets the old heave ho!? They are up there right now, having to pack and unpack their tents every day so they can practice. They have to sleep on uneven ground under rocks and stones while everyone here sleeps on the soft grass! They are getting less sleep, having to put in double the effort to make this work, for you people who won't even train with them!"

I was shocked. He was a great speaker. Everyone was listening.

"And the one reason they're up there is because of one paranoid General down here who is worried about some sore losers left over from the War. Well guess what!? We're about to start another war! With the Spirits no less! The only difference is that we only have one fight to win or lose the war! We lose this battle, and there is no more world! I can almost promise you this for a fact, them being forced to stay up there will impact the outcome! Right now I see an army who won't camp together, won't eat together, won't train together, and if this continues, the only thing you'll be doing is _dying _together! You can't do this separately! You need to work together, otherwise you may as well be at home saying goodbye to everyone you know because the world is as good as screwed. If that's your choice, let me know right now, because I have a girlfriend who I love, and want to say goodbye to. But please, if this world means anything to any of you, don't leave it to chance, because we can't."

I let out the breath I didn't realize I had been holding. For that slow moment, no one said anything, then the soldiers broke out cheering, screaming, some people were earthbending. I knew that the Fire Nation soldiers would be setting up their tents in the valley within the hour.

At that moment, I noticed that Teo had seen me. We looked at each other for a moment. His face said it all. He had an embarrassed half smile on while looking a bit sheepish. He seemed embarrassed, like I had caught him talking to himself or doing something he wasn't supposed to. I could also see that he wanted to keep this quiet. I nodded once and told him that this wouldn't become common knowledge. He smiled in appreciation before turning backwards to smirk smugly at the General before wind running to tell the Fire Nation soldiers that they could move to the valley.

I turned to look at the General too. And there he stood in shock with his foot in his mouth and his jaw on the ground. I snickered into my palm before walking back to tell Aang, but only Aang. Teo really was the hero of the day. I just wished he wasn't so hushed about it.

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**I had so much fun writing this chapter! Actually, before I had come up with any idea of what I wanted this sequel to be about, I was imagining the scene with Teo's speech. that inspiration is what made me write another. **

**But I am literally begging now! I miss all you guys, and I want to finish this but with no one reviewing, I'm not sure if I will! Please review... or I may have to sic the flying monkeys on you!**


	12. How Did You Do It?

**Okay, here is the next chapter, even though I don't like it nearly as much as the last one, I thought this was really sweet, and a sweet thing to write. **

**Thank you all for all of those reviews! I loved reading them all and they were a happy surprise after thinking I'd been deserted!**

**Anyway, I'm sorry that I've taken so long, but I got a Global Project with a group and the first thing they did was elect me leader because "I'm the smartest". Now I'm pulling teeth trying to get them to do stuff, and it has to be funny, and all of one person that isn't me in the group is funny. **

**Disclaimer: According to the KWP (kenwoody prophesy) I am a good writer, but will never own Avatar. **

**(Thanks to Mr. Average for that disclaimer)**

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Chapter Twelve: How Did You Do It?

**Toph's POV: **I quietly walked through the woods, feeling around with my feet for the person I was looking for. I was never up at this inhuman hour, but I needed to know something, and only one person could answer it.

I found him soon enough in a clearing, practicing his bending. I dove down in the earth and came out at the edge of the clearing, remembering all too well what happened the last time I snuck up on him.

"Hey Sparky, got a moment?" I asked. I felt him flinch and turn to me in a stance before he saw it was just me. He lowered his arms and cocked his head. I guess I would be confused too though.

"What's on your mind?" He asked warily. I sat down on the dirt beside the river, and he crouched next to me. I sighed. He's gonna think I'm really weird for asking this.

"Do you remember the Final Battle of the war?" I asked, building up to my question slowly. He turned to look at me; he clearly didn't know where I was going with this. He blinked a few times then slowly nodded.

"Yeah. It's kinda a hard day to forget." He said wrapped up in thought. I wondered if it would be too painful for him and me if I dove in now. I took it even slower.

"What happened on that day with you. Can you give me a play-by-play?" Once again I could tell he was confused, but nodded again.

"I suppose. As you know, I went to the palace with Aang and Katara before we split up. I went to the Fire Arena where Azula had just finished practice. I challenged her to an Agni Kai, and she accepted. I was winning, and she knew it! She seemed slightly off, like her sanity was more in question than usual. Then she cheapened and jumped out a window, heading for the field to get away from me, because she knew I'd win. She found the park and grabbed a knife from one of the soldiers and…" He paused and collected his breath, the memory clearly painful. I know what he was about to say, because I heard it from Katara and Mai. Once his heartbeat and breathing were normal again he continued.

"Then she stabbed Mai on the side of her stomach, the spearhead went all the way through. I killed her, then went over to Katara and waited for her to heal. Then Aang came out and we had won the war." I nodded.

Now was a good time for me to drop the question bomb. It would either hit his temper, or his heart. If it hit his temper, I wasn't going to get my question answered. If it hits his heart, he'll understand and tell me.

"How did you feel when you had thought that Mai had died?"

**Zuko's POV: **I was surprised at the question, although I really shouldn't have been. She's worried about losing Sokka, and wants to know if she could handle it. If anyone could, she could. But then again, Soul Mate is a pretty tough thing to let go of. Because it was so early and I had stayed up late trying to come up with a plan, I had totally blanked on the prophesy.

"Well, uh…" I began, not knowing how to describe it. Toph looked at me, playing with the clay on the riverbank.

"You can tell me, I'm a big girl now!" She said in an impatient voice, but her voice was layered over with something that sounded a bit like worry. I suppose she needed to know. I breathed out slowly, getting ready for the memories to prickle like a knife.

"It felt hollow." I started. She waited for me to continue in confusion. "It felt like everything I had worked to protect, needed to have, needed to love, was being ripped away from me. It wasn't just an emotional rip, it felt like someone was tearing a leg off, or ripping my heart out… because they were."

I closed my eyes and rubbed the bridge of my nose. Here came all the memories, lost in the crowded fields of my brain. Not so long ago seemed like eternity, yet also felt like yesterday as the emotions came up to choke me again so clearly. I attempted to swallow the lump in my throat before continuing.

"It felt like pure emotions of hatred for Azula, terror for Mai, distress for thinking of losing her, guilt for endangering her, shame for not being able to protect her, and sadness for losing the most important person in the world to me. All of these pure emotions were shaking and being trapped in one place that was about to explode. Each heartbeat was the drums of war, and the moments I had left with her before Katara said that she couldn't do anything else. Then the rage and shame and guilt and hatred were drowned out by sorrow. It surrounded me. I didn't think I could go on. I felt cheated. I worked and suffered my entire life, then things finally start to go right, and then the one thing in my life that was always steady and protecting, and calm was being ripped away from me. It felt like my world was being fed to chaos itself."

My voice died out as I rubbed my eyes before opening them again. I dipped my hand in the cool water and thought for a moment.

"Then I saw her eyelid twitch ever so slightly, then she groaned and woke up. It felt like I was seeing color for the first time. It felt like finding paradise after a world of pointless searching and suffering through a hell. Seeing her alive and awake again awoke me from my guilt and sorrow. She was my sun, not done shining. Seeing her alive brought back living into life." She nodded through tears. I woke up and remembered the prophesy.

"Toph, don't give up yet. I can promise you that there is…" Then she exploded.

"Don't you dare say hope! I know for a fact that there is no _hope_! I know for a fact that even on the not likelihood that the world comes out of this relatively unscathed that I won't! I know for a fact that I am losing my sun! You just gave me this whole speech on how awful you felt, then you tell me there's HOPE!? I'm glad you got your love back, but I'm not coming out of this with mine! I know for a fact that I am losing the person I care about most in the world in four days!" She said before beginning to storm off. I sighed and dipped my hand in the stream again.

"Not for a fact." I whisper, though she makes no indication of hearing it. "The light at the end of the tunnel is always hard to see, but is always there, for those who continue to look."

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**All together now... AWWWWWWWWWWWW! Poor Toph, someone needs to read her the prophesy. Remember, none of the girls has seen it yet; they just know about it... and because of that, problems will occur.**

**Anyway, I'll update soon. Remember to review!**


	13. All the Reasons Why I'm an Idiot

**Next chapter is up! I've been trying to push to finish this and my guess is that it'll take about four more chapters. Anyway, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt, then gave it back. **

Chapter Thirteen: All the Reasons Why I'm an Idiot

**Ty Lee's POV: **Every morning Teo is gone before every one wakes up. None of the girls see him all day, and then he'll come to dinner _early_ looking like he just took a bath. He never helps with the small chores, and Sokka, Aang, and Zuko never mention him being at the training area while they're there. It's as if he just disappears to goof off.

It's embarrassing! I'm past feeling sorry about feeling embarrassed. When Zuko talks about how close he's coming to deciphering some prophesy that none of the girls have seen, or when Sokka says that he's proud of his warrior's class, or when Aang talks about how well trained the benders are becoming, I can't help but bury my head in shame. Teo isn't doing anything! He could be helping ANYONE with ANYTHING! But he's not, and it's upsetting.

I'm going to talk to him. I don't have a choice. Maybe if I speak to him, he'll understand and actually help out. Maybe if I speak to him, he'll actually start training with the troops, I know that he's so talented and would have a lot to contribute. Maybe if I speak to him he could train with the boys. Maybe if I speak to him he'll start training with the girls. Maybe if I speak to him, he'll actually start reappearing in my life.

**Teo's POV: **Aang and Katara came up to me last night well after dinner, but before bed. My guess was that it was during girl shower hour and during guy "do anything you want except stroll over to the river" hour. I'm pretty sure that everyone except Aang has tried to or thought about breaking that rule.

I smiled kindly at Aang and looked over to Katara, trying to silently ask her if she'd told him. Katara didn't seem to get my silent interrogation. But it was okay, I quickly found out the answer.

"Katara told me, but no one else knows; even though I don't know why you want to be anonymous, we'll still respect your decision. Teo, from what I've heard about from Katara, you were an amazing and motivating speaker, and seeing the bonding going on in the troops this afternoon, I have to say you are definitely the hero of the day! None of us would've been able to think that quickly and that clearly after screaming at General Cow Pig-headed. You are definitely a silent hero!"

I grinned. The Avatar was calling me a hero. He may just be Aang to me, but from this guy, it was definitely a major compliment. He's seen real heroes who gave up their lives in hopes for balance, and I'm being ranked up by them. I really didn't deserve this honor. All I did was start screaming at the troops what everyone was thinking.

"Well, it's not that big, all I really did was lose my temper and risked losing the entire Earth Kingdom forces. It's actually not something I should've been gambling with, and I really…"

"Teo!" Katara cut me off, rolling her eyes and smiling at me. "What you did was give the Fire Nation soldiers a voice. You took a stand against injustice, and that IS something to be rewarded. I just wish you weren't Mister Hush-hush! I know at least one person who'd love to flaunt you!" She joked, waggling her eyebrows at the last part. I stared at my shoes. Aang suddenly was standing up straight looking like he was lost in thought. He snapped out of it momentarily.

"Hey, I'm gonna meet up with the guys. Join us in a bit, kay?" He said nicely, but distantly. I looked at him then nodded. Both Katara and I watched him walk towards the barn, where we all watch over each other at this time to make sure one of us wasn't off spying on the girls bath in their bathing suits… or not, we're not sure. Once Aang was out of hearing distance Katara turned to me with a serious look on her face.

"No one listens to me when I talk, so I'll take the Toph approach, kay?" She asked. I raised my eyebrows for a second.

"Well, the moment you mention the word _hope_ everyone automatically zones out." I teased her. She rolled her eyes in an amused but exasperated way.

"Anyway… back to the topic; she really misses you." I gaped at her, the words kind of lost to me for a moment. I understood what she meant, but I was unable to comprehend it for a second. Finally, I cleared out my head and my face changed from surprise to feigned indifference. My stonewall went up.

"No she doesn't."I replied smoothly. She frowned, asking me to explain. "She is looking at me differently, and she never sits next to me at dinner, not even when she has a choice."

"That doesn't mean a thing. She's just upset because of the Spirit wave. It's obvious she misses you. Just talk to her!" Katara said. I rubbed at the bridge of my nose, right by the corner of my eyes. They'd been hurting and sore all day, my head was also throbbing slightly. I groaned.

"Just think about it." Katara said before turning around and starting towards the river. It was then that I realized that she was walking with a slight limp.

--

Now, three days before the wave. Aang is starting to transport troops to the Eastern coast. There's a beach by the water and a breathtaking valley for the troops to stay. All the Water Tribe and Fire Nation troops left earlier because they have to take boats.

The Earth Kingdom soldiers should leave in about half of an hour. I remember this morning I had my last training with them. We woke up super early and trained harder than we've ever trained before. It was five hours straight.

I was about to take my glider over to the apple trees so we could round up fruit for the trip. We all knew that Katara was smuggling out at least two bags of rice. She's now arguing with Toph about whether or not they needed a third.

Then I felt a light tap on the shoulder and I turned to see Ty Lee, looking as adorable and sweet as ever. There was only one problem. The glow was gone from her, and she wore a serious frown.

"Teo, can we talk in the woods?" She asked. I nodded curtly and mechanically started walking towards the woods. I shoulda talked to her sooner, why didn't I talk to her sooner!? I scold myself. I had nothing to worry about then. Now it feels like I do. That is one reason why I'm an idiot; bad communication! Suddenly there were trees all around us and she was turning to me upsettedly.

"Teo, I was really surprised with you over the past two weeks. What happened to you?" She demanded in an accusing way. What the hell was she talking about?

"What do you mean!?" Okay… that came out sounding much more harsh than I wanted it to be. That's why I'm an idiot. I always start out these kinds of conversations on a bad impression.

"I mean that you haven't been helping do anything for this war!" She suddenly shouts, enraged. Hearing her get angry was new for me, and I responded with just as much of the same. My jaw set into a scowl. "I mean that before breakfast, you're gone, then no one sees you or hears from you until just before dinner! You're not doing anything with the guys, and you're not doing anything with the girls!" I didn't know where this was going, but it didn't sound good. My anger seemed to make her even more mad, and her anger made me even more mad.

"You want me to do my part in this war! Well I can't do it like Aang and Sokka and Zuko can! I'm sorry, but I can't!" I yelled. She glared and threw her arms up in the air.

"Why can't you!? What's so impossible!? Why can't you just…" I just her off with an enraged snap. I should be diffusing this, but my anger was out of control; like a giant animal on a tiny leash; a leash that just snapped.

"I'm sorry I can't be the hero you want me to be, but I can't! You want someone who goes and rounds up a thousand soldiers for the cause? I can't do that! If you haven't noticed, I'm the one person in the group who can't do anything!" Ty Lee's eyes were wide open, but the words just flew from my mouth, no stopping them.

"Aang is the Avatar and obviously has world-wide connections! Sokka and Zuko can get in touch with the order of the white Lotus, Sokka has plenty of influence in both of the Poles, one as a hero of war, and one as the protector and finder of the Avatar, and Zuko is a king! All of those guys have influence, powerful friends, connections to be able to get soldiers!" Ty Lee just kept looking at me, and I just kept yelling. She looked close to tears. That's another reason why I'm an idiot, because I'm making her cry.

"You and Mai are known all through the world from people you used to help in prisons, as well as with Azula, and with us! Katara has just as much influence, if not more, in both of the Poles, and for the Battle at the Coal Brig, and from the reform of the Fire Nation Fishing town which appeared in an international newspaper, and even for her book. Toph is widely known for her stature in society, and famous through the Earth Kingdom as the Blind Bandit." I felt a stabbing headache slowly become worse, and noticed Ty Lee's eyes slightly red. It took me forever to see it though, because my eyes were blurred from my own sweat and tears.

"I'm the only one missing! I have no influence, I can't do much; until a couple of years ago I couldn't even walk! I'm known as the second airbender, but not really well known, I now a small fifteen people Glider military, but that's it! So I'm the odd one out! I'm the nobody! I'm the one who can't help! I'm the Zeppo of the group! I'm trying my hardest to help but there isn't much I can do! Every now and then I train with the soldiers, but that's all I can do! So that's what I was doing! I'm sorry I can't be that hero in every girl's daydreams, but I just can't, so get the hell out of my face!"

I open my glider as quickly as I can, though clumsily due to my shaking hands. The moment it's open I take off into the sky, heading for I don't know where; just trying to fly away. But that shocked and miserable expression on that exquisite face was burned into my memory, and I rubbed my throbbing head on my sleeve, trying to rub the tears off my cheeks, but all it really does is let the teardrop plummet to the earth. I watched it get smaller and smaller until it disappeared into the trees. I'm such an idiot! Why did I have to yell at her, and why did she have to look at me like that!?

That's all the reasons why I'm an idiot.

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**I've been wanting to label a Chapter "All the Reasons Why I'm an Idiot" forever. The chapter in and of itself is kind of sad though, because Ty Lee didn't know about what Teo did, and Teo's been feeling useless recently. **

**To clarify something, yes, Teo did run away, he didn't just go for a flight on his glider to clear his head. He actually flew away. Don't worry though, we hear back from him. **

**I'll update soon!**


	14. The Dark Cloud on the Horizon

**Hey guys! Sorry I kept you waiting, and thanks for all the amazing reviews! Here's the next chapter. The Spirit Wave is only three days away. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own Ty Leo. I don't own anything else... NO! WAIT! I OWN THE PROPHESIES TOO! THE KP AND THE ZP ARE MINE! ALL MINE! murmurs my precious... my precious...**

**Readers: (Pause)... Slowly backs away**

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Chapter 14: The Dark Cloud on the Horizon

**Sokka's POV: **I stood in a nervous daze while images flashed through my mind quickly. Everything was scrambled. I'd feel a tugging at my neck then a "whoosh!" as I was dragged off to see something else.

Whoosh! I found myself on a cliff, staring at a sunrise. It was beautiful, but there was a thin black line across it. I saw Mai and Zuko sitting on the side of the cliff staring at it mournfully. Both looked so sad. "It's really coming, isn't it? It's really coming to end the world." Mai said. Zuko leaned in to wrap her in a hug.

Whoosh! Ty Lee was pacing nervously in front of a concerned Teo. She looked at him in a panic before starting to babble upsettedly. "I don't know if I'll be able to do this Teo!" She cried. "Me and evil Dark Spirit Waves coming to destroy the world are very non-mixey things!" She cried while she began to fiddle with her fingers in anxiety. To stop her from shaking he wrapped her in a tight hug. "Don't worry." He whispered in her ear to comfort her. "Things will turn out all right… they have to."

Whoosh. There was Aang standing up at the front of the troops. He looked like he was giving a speech. "…how can we possibly face these Spirits? No human alone can face one, and it is impossible to kill one if it isn't in mortal form; which none of them are. Even with our four thousand some-odd men, we are still shot several soldiers for fifty of us to fight one Spirit. There's no way that we can win, and there's no way that we can stop them." I gaped as Aang said this. I know I suck at public speaking but this wasn't usually the way to boost the troop's morale. I wanted to scream at him, but I had no voice.

I flung my body straight up, my eyes were wide open, I was panting, and covered in a thin sheen of cold sweat. It was all I could do not to wake up screaming. My hair stuck to my face and my clothes were clutching my body tightly.

I was in the clearing in the woods. I remembered falling asleep here. This was the fourth night in the row that I've had these sort of prophetic dreams. This one was the worst so far. I felt tears pouring from my eyes and a cool breeze on my sweaty body sent a chill through my flesh. Grasped in a moment of fury I quickly stood up and unsheathed my sword and looked towards the clouded sky in rage.

"What is this?!" I shouted up to the clouds. "Why are you showing me this; what do you want from me!?" Nothing responded in the dead of the night. My upper lip twitched in the silence. "Answer me goddamnit!!" I screeched. Yet again there was silence and a tear slid down my cheek.

"Aaurgh!!" I shouted in frustration before throwing my meteor sword directly towards the nearest tree. There was a clank of contact as my sword bounced off it lightly, unscathed. I collapsed to the ground and the tears started to flow freely.

Needless to say, I did not get anymore sleep that night.

**Katara's POV: **I handed the last of the things to Aang, who was on Appa. He secured them with the last of the rope then smiled as he airbended himself down. I smiled and kissed him on the cheek, smiling at him. For one morning in the past two months, everything was good.

"Well, that's the last of it." I announced happily.

"No it's not." Toph contradicted quietly. Zuko, Mai, Ty Lee, Aang and I all looked at her in surprise. "Where's Sokka?" We all spun around, but sure enough, Sokka was nowhere to be seen. Zuko swung open the barn doors, but he wasn't inside.

"And, by the way, where's Teo also?" Once again we did the whole spinning around thing, and yet again, we noticed that we were Teo-less. Mai grumbled.

"We don't have time to look for both of them, we have to go now!" Mai said frustrated.

"Yeah, I wish that Sokka was here now so we could leave!" Ty Lee said annoyed.

"I'm here." Sokka said tiredly, walking up to us from the path to the woods. We all looked at him for a moment.

"I wish I had a million gold pieces!" Ty Lee said quickly. Mai and Toph turned to look at her with an incredulous expression on. Ty Lee smiled at them sheepishly. "Just checking." She said innocently. I rolled my eyes and smiled.

"But, what about Teo." Zuko asked. Ty Lee's expression changed and something flickered in her eyes for merely a moment. It was hard to tell if it had even been there at all.

"He already left on his glider, to make the trip easier on Anari and Appa." Ty Lee said. I turned just in time to see Toph roll her shoulder blades backwards; a gesture she usually makes when she catches someone lying. I made a mental note to ask Ty Lee about it while we were in the air.

Our travelling plans were to have all the boys on Appa, and all the girls on Anari. I can transport anyone from one bison to the other, via my awesome cloud bubbles. We quickly loaded on before taking off in the air. I didn't wait more than five minutes after takeoff before I went to sit on Anari's head, next to Ty Lee.

"So, what's going on Ty Lee?" I prodded. She turned to me looked surprised and slightly upset. "What actually happened to Teo, because according to Toph, you were lying about Teo making room for everyone."

"Damnit! I forgot about Toph's annoying lie detector-ness." She said annoyingly.

"What is it Ty Lee? You can tell me!" I said in a comforting tone. She looked sad and glanced at her thumbs that she was now twiddling. Neither of us spoke for several minutes.

"Teo and I had a fight" She finally said, continuing to stare at her feet. She refused to look me in the eyes. She slowly continued. "Then he got his glider and ran away." She said this a bit more choked up. I was shocked, I would've never expected Teo to run away.

"What happened? I asked, concerned.

"I was upset that he wasn't helping out in the war, seeing as we never saw him and I never heard about him working with the troops, so I yelled at him for not doing as much as he could, like all the rest of the guys." I looked at her.

"Not everyone can be 'Global Connections Guy' Ty Lee!" I said sadly. She shook her head and turned toward me for the first time, though I noticed she continued to stare at my forehead instead of my eyes.

"I didn't expect him to. I was just upset that he wouldn't even train with the troops. He got angry, then depressed, then he left." She said sadly. I rolled my eyes.

"Ty Lee, you scatterbrained, lovable, nincompoop, were you hiding under a rock for the past week and a half?" She glared at me, but without menace. The glare was one of confusion. She finally looked me in the eyes. Her eyes asked me to continue.

"Teo's been training the troops every day for five or six hours a day. When the troops were split into two pieces, he trained with both of them for three hours each. And do you know why they finally started to train and bunk together? Teo talked to the troops instead of just trying to stuff reason into that one General's head. He did what all of us were too stupid to do, and he got results. He probably did the most important thing for the cause so far." She just gaped at me, shame was evident on her face.

"And I yelled at him…" She whispered to herself. The beginnings of tears started to appear at the corners of her eyes.

"Don't worry." I said in an attempt at comfort. I awkwardly wrapped an arm over her shoulder and squeezed it lightly. "He loves you. He really does. And he'll come back. I promise!" I said.

She smiled sadly and nodded. I took that as my cue to leave. I climbed back up onto the saddle and pulled a small bit of water out of a passing cloud to play with. We had a three hour flight, and I didn't have anything to do.

**Ty Lee's POV: **He was a hero… he was a hero and he didn't tell me.

I wish he had told me. I thought he could tell me everything. We promised that we would tell each other everything. It must be the Spirit Wave. Aang said it would interfere with our teamwork and ability to not get angry with each other, but I hadn't expected this. It's all the Spirit's faults…

Who am I kidding, cuz it certainly isn't me. I know that the doubt was still there, and I was still annoyed. The Spirits might've increased it, but it was there without their help.

Still. He was a hero, and I was the last one to know…

… and I yelled at him.

**Toph's POV: **I was not as angry at Mai as I was a while ago when she was terrible at sympathizing with us. Now would be as good a time as any to make up. Possibly the best time. I know that Katara already apologized to her… Katara's good at that stuff, no one can stay angry at her for long. I still had yet to apologize.

I scooted over to her, feeling around that thin layer of dirt Sokka remembered to line Anari's saddle with.

"Hey, uh… Mai." I said. She looked up at me and cocked her head.

"Yeah Toph?" She asked carefully. Neither of us wanted this to erupt into a heated argument, because if it did, there'd be nowhere to storm off to and chuck rocks around. We both treaded carefully.

"I just wanted to apologize for the other day. I'm sorry we got so out of hand, and I'm sorry I screamed. I won't blame it completely on the Spirits, because I am to blame, but I have to add that those damned Spirits were at work here too. I'm still sorry!" I said. I waited for her response.

"Thanks Toph, I appreciate it. I brought it more out of hand, and I'm sorry. I was being cold and unsympathetic when I should've been considerate and consoling. I was way out of line." I heard her say. A large smile crossed over her face.

"Thanks!" I said. It felt good to get that weight off my chest. I only had one more burden left. That was Sokka's inevitable death. That weight might be harder to shove off.

**Zuko's POV: **After a grueling three hours of the three guys going "so what do you wanna do?" "I dunno, what do you wanna do?" we were all ecstatic to finally land and stretch our legs. The girls seemed just as eager as we were to be at the Eastern Coast of the Earth Kingdom. As we looked down, we saw the troops and their campsite in a valley. We had Appa and Anari land about three hundred yards away. Looking towards the sea, I thought I could make out a thin black streak across the horizon. Suddenly I wish that the boredom on Appa was the most of my worries.

I jumped off of Appa first, and a Water Tribe chief person came up to me. I smiled warmly at the man.

"What is it?" I ask him.

"We have set up three large tents for the eight of you. One is for the girls, one is for the boys, and one is for planning a battle strategy. We've already set up a map of the Eastern Coast for where the Spirits will be coming." I nodded.

"Thank you very much. We'll be using them in no time." The Water tribe man left and I quickly informed everyone about the tents that we had.

Now all we need is a battle strategy. I walked into the tent that someone pointed out to find Iroh staring pensively at the table with the world map on it. On the far right corner of the map over the Eastern Sea there was a long black stick, I knew what that meant. On the eastern border, by the coast there were a few pieces for each of the Three Nations. I walked over to Uncle and patted his shoulder. He looked tired.

"There must be a way…" Iroh said sadly and confusedly. I stared along with him, as if the answer would appear on the map in plain letters if we stared at it long enough. I barely noticed Aang and Sokka join the stare-fest until my eyes started hurting and I rubbed them. I heard Uncle sigh one more time.

"There must be a way…" He repeated sadly. "… but I can't think of it." It was my turn to sigh.

**Teo's POV: **I sat on a small ledge on a mountain. I had my glider open and ready to fly again just in case the ledge I was sitting on breaks. Although I desperately hoped that it didn't, because I've been flying for five hours straight, and was exhausted. I was hungry, and hot, and thirsty, and tired. I got only six hours of sleep last night when I found a mountain cave. This ledge is nice for a quick break, but my arms and legs still remained stiff and sore.

I tried to think about anyone besides Ty Lee, anything besides our fight. She thought I was worthless... NO! Stop it! You're thinking about her again! That's not going to help anything! You can think about her all you want _after _the world ends... well that's a fairly morbid thought!

I forced myself to think about the troops. I wonder how they were getting settled into the Eastern Coast. I bet that stupid General still has his foot in his mouth from when I lectured him. Maybe they're still doing morning training, only without me. It's not like they ever needed me there anyway, I just got the idea into motion. A lot of those guys seem really cool... and really my age. Fifteen year old soldiers... that's so sad. I wish I had gotten to know them more. There was this one really cool guy named Tung. He's only thirteen. He looks kind of familiar for some reason... I just can't place it though. I have a feeling it has something to do with the Final Battle in the Hundred Years War.

Why did the Spirits decide to go all genocidal on the world now? Life was getting good. We just ended a war. Now all they have to do is wait for a Solstice and they can wipe out the earth!? What gives them the right? What's with the destruction thing here!? It's becoming a pattern! Why are they allowed to just barge in here and come to destroy things?

My eyes widened and I felt an extra burst of adrenaline race through my veins. Of course! The answer was staring us right in the face. How had we not seen it before!? It was so obvious that I was shocked that I was the first one to think of it! I knew that they had probably already headed for the Eastern Coast, so I grabbed my glider and started flying east, towards the rising sun. It would take about nine hours time on a glider, but I'll make it there with a day and a half to spare. Wait... does this mean that I was "The Hushed" in the ZP? I ignored the question easily because my mind was flooded with only two thoughts and I flew at top speed towards the Eastern Coast, ignoring the screaming in my muscles and the heavy bags under my eyes. Two thoughts reverberated in my mind.

I knew how to defeat the Spirit wave! I knew how Aang and Sokka wouldn't die!

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**Hurray! The first good news that was here in the longest time! It feels great to have some happy feelings! Okay, all you people who asked me "Is Teo the Hushed?" the answer is in fact, yes. **

**Hmm... I wonder what Teo realized. Actually I already know so I'm not "hmmm-ing" but I know you guys are!**


	15. A Plan of Action

**This is the last chapter before the Spirit Wave comes! This was a whole whopping twelve pages on Microsoft Word! Hurray! Okay, it took me about six days to write this, so I'd better get some amazing reviews!**

**Disclaimer: I'm an okay writer, but I don't... and never will own Avatar! Oh well, life goes on.**

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Chapter Fifteen: A Plan of Action

**Ty Lee's POV: **I rooted through all my clothes several times until I found what I was looking for. I pulled out a deep maroon cape with a hood. It was very rare to find such a dark shade of pink in my clothes, but it was a stylish contrast, and also pretty good for the sneaking around. Right now I was going to use it for the latter.

I snuck out of the tent that I was sharing with Mai and Katara. Toph preferred to sleep in her own rock tent. I quietly headed towards Anari and started to climb up to her head. Just as I was about to throw my small bag of provisions into the saddle, Mai came into view in her usual bored slump in the saddle. I squeaked a little in surprise and felt myself falling backwards, so I quickly let myself slip into a back flip before landing on one hand. Mai peered over the side of the saddle with an amused and condescending smirk on her face.

"Hey Ty Lee, is it field trip time already?" She asked, though she probably already knew the answer. I don't know how she found out, but I could tell she knew. She is my oldest friend after all.

"I just wanted to… umm, say goodbye to my family before the fight. I'll be back tonight!" I tried lying to her. Her smirk lowered into a scowl.

"Ty Lee, I've known you forever, you can't lie to me!" She said annoyed. I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"I know! That's what makes you so mind numbingly irritating!" I said to her, exasperated. If I was going to be coming back tonight, I have to be quick.

"So where are you really going?" She asked. I was sick of lying, so I just made it easier on myself.

"It was my fault that Teo left. He was our biggest asset at the time, and I drove him out. Now I need to bring him back! I just have a feeling, like I know he's around here somewhere. I know it… y'know?"

"I guess so, but you shouldn't go alone. I'm coming." I smiled, suddenly feeling a lot of compassion for my oldest friend.

"Thanks!" I said, swinging myself up onto Anari. "Nami." I said softly, and Anari took off into the sky. Mai looked at me weirdly.

"What?" I asked uncomfortably.

"Nami?" Mai asked skeptically. "Why Nami? It's so random!" I smirked and automatically loosened up.

"You don't think that I'd become a slave to conformity and use yip-yip, didja?" I asked. I pretended to act all snobby in a pompous royalty voice. "Can you imagine _me_ using a common command phrase such as yip-yip!?" Mai smirked again and played along, putting on a shocked face.

"El gasp! The horror! It's a scandal!" I laughed at Mai's impersonation of the gossipy servants and Nobles. I hadn't laughed in forever… it felt great!

**Teo's POV: **I had been flying for nine hours straight, and I hadn't gotten any sleep last night to top off the mere six hours of the night before. But I only had about an hour left until I was at the coast. Then I'd talk to Aang about the plan and everything will be alright.

The bags under my eyes were getting heavier by the second, and I could feel them fluttering closed. Every five seconds I'd have to shake my head and blink them open. My muscles were stiff and sore. I doubted any of them would work for at least another six hours after I get there.

But I can go for one more hour. Thank the Spirits for all the training I've been doing, otherwise I would've collapsed hours ago. I'm on the last leg now. I can do this. The world is counting on me.

Just have to keep my eyes open and my muscles alive.

**Ty Lee's POV: **We've been flying for about fifteen minutes now, and my right hand was twitching uncontrollably. That means Teo must be close by.

"Hey, I think Teo is somewhere around here. Keep your eyes peeled on the sky." I told Mai. She sat up straighter, but I heard her quietly grumble.

"Or on the ground." I frowned and glared at her for the brief millisecond I would allow myself to not look for Teo.

"Don't say that!" I growled at her. I suddenly wished I hadn't, because she's just a natural realist, not to mention, tempers have been short recently. She just sighed before replying.

"Sorry I'm like that. You're not the first one to get pissed at me for it." I breathed a sigh of relief before smiling.

"S'okay. I know he's still flying, I can feel it." I said.

She nodded and pulled something out of a bag of hers. She said "Hey Ty Lee, catch." before she threw me a small gold telescope. I continued to look right in front of me, muttering a word of thanks very quickly.

We searched for a while before I heard Mai make an "Aww" sound. I waited for her to explain, and she quickly pointed to something that I could barely make out that was three hundred yards away.

"Some poor exhausted bird collapsed in the air. Looks like it dropped a dinner of a scorpion snake." She said. I paused as the words sunk in. Quickly the telescope was yanked as far as it could reach and was pointed at Mai's "bird" to confirm what we both suddenly feared.

"Anari! Nami!" I screamed and Anari went faster, quickly recognizing her owner just as well with a loud roar. I flew to where we saw the body of an airbender slowly falling, his staff clutched in his hands. I yanked the reigns and she dove, wanting to get under Teo so we could grab him.

Quickly we were right under him and I jumped and grabbed his wrist, dragging him to the saddle. His staff fell next to him.

Mai gasped as she moved him so he could lay flat on the saddle. I quickly turned Anari back to the Coast and ran back to look at him.

He looked exhausted. His clothes were wrinkled and his hair was blown back horribly, there were heavy black bags under his eyes that dragged his entire face down and made it look pale and sick. I felt around his arms and calves. The muscles were stiff and sore. His palms and feet were covered with blisters for clutching the wood for too long. Otherwise he seemed unharmed, thank the Spirits.

"Mai, hand me my bag and take the reigns for Anari." I quickly asked her, just I was finishing the sentence it was already being shoved into my hands. Two seconds later I saw her slowly get up and crawl over to Anari's head.

I fished through my bag until I found the medical kit and began pulling out certain ointments and juices for his blisters and sores. Katara could do better when we got back in twenty minutes, but until then, that should help. It looks like he just passed out of exhaustion, nothing was really wrong like an injury. From the looks of it, he'd been going on only five hours of sleep in the past two nights.

At least now he was safe. He was safe and back with us. He's safe for the next day and a half at least.

**Katara's POV: **We were just finishing breakfast when Anari came back from I can guess where. Mai hops out and ran over to me. I turn to her with a confused look on my face. Why was she with Ty Lee, and what does she want with me.

"Ty Lee needs you. Teo doesn't look so great." She said simply before sitting next to Zuko. I sat there for a minute. Is Teo hurt? Is he okay? I ran to the bison and climbed up as quickly as I could to see Teo passed out in the saddle, looking less than great, just like Mai said.

"Is he hurt?" I asked Ty Lee while pulling some water out of one of my water skins. I started examining his hands and taking care of his large blisters speckling his palm. I let the water soothe the damaged skin and willed the dead skin to fall off, and new skin to grow. There were so many, that it took a while.

"No, he's not hurt; he just looks tired and sore. My guess is that he's been flying for about ten hours straight, and conked from exhaustion." She said before she made a weird face like she recalled an old memory. "Kind of like Appa that one time… uh, we were kind of…chasing you… sorry about that!" I snickered into my shoulder and rolled my eyes while running the water over his tight calves to soothe the muscle.

"It's fine, that was, what… two and a half years ago? Anyway, the soreness I can deal with now, but he'll be out for at least another four hours; when he wakes up, then you should probably talk to him, he may be a bit disoriented." Ty Lee nodded slowly and became fixated on my bending with a frustrated frown plastered on her face. I rolled my eyes.

"He'll forgive you. Like I said before, he loves you, and I've never known Teo to hold a grudge on anything, and no matter how close that annoying black line is out there, he's still Teo." She smiled warmly and brushed his bangs to the side of his face with the back of her fingers.

In his sleep, he tilted his head to the side lazily, and his face uplifted into a lazy smile.

I jumped off of Anari and motioned for Ty Lee to follow me. She did a flip off of Anari before turning to me confusedly. I smiled comfortingly and said, "C'mon, let's grab Aang to help us get him into a sleeping bag in the guy's tent." She smiled and followed me as I ran up to talk to Aang, for maybe one of the last times.

**Teo's POV: **I sat up straight, rubbing my eyes. I felt better, and more rested than I had in a while. I looked around, not recognizing where I was. From the looks of it, it was the world where the sky is green and cotton… or it could just be an Earth Kingdom tent. Yeah, it's probably the latter one.

I blinked as I remembered the last few hours, or what I last remembered. I was flying for nine hours, then I was waking up here. Somehow, the last thirty minutes of the journey eluded my memory.

Well, whatever happened, I remembered my idea; that was why I was rushing so much. I had to tell Aang my plan so he could figure it out and confirm that it could be done, and all that stuff.

I stepped out of the tent and was temporarily blinded by the really bright light of about midday. I blinked a few times, letting myself get used to the sun that was turned on way too bright. I couldn't really ask the good Spirits, "Oh hey, I just woke up and am a little groggy. Can you dim your sun for a few minutes? Thanks!"

After my eyes adjusted I looked around to quickly recognize the Eastern Coast, and the multicolored tents that belonged to the soldiers. Somehow, I had gotten to the base without even remembering it. I walked through the jungle of tents, looking for a familiar bald and tattooed head. I scanned to look near the cliff side, and paused. It was Ty Lee. She returned my gaze carefully, and I couldn't read anything in her expression besides the obvious "we need to talk" face. I took a deep breath. I knew this was coming.

I walked over to her, and she sat down by the ledge of the cliff. I did the same thing and we both looked out towards the Eastern Horizon. By the very edge of the horizon, slightly above it, was a thick black line. There was no question about what that was. Ty Lee and I both turned to face each other.

"Teo…" "Ty Lee…" We both began at the same time. She blushed slightly before looking down at her lap. I rubbed my neck awkwardly before shakily muttering, "You can go first." I heard her sigh next to me.

"Teo, I'm sorry about what I said. I was wrong to doubt you, wrong to say that, and wrong in fact." She said. I gaped at her with my jaw slightly ajar. She blushed some more and continued. "Katara told me what you said to the troops, and how you put that idiot General in his place. I'm sorry I should've questioned your motives, even if I didn't know I had no right to say anything like that." She said. I lost control of all thought at that moment, not to mention words. I opened and closed my mouth a few times before shaking myself out of it at the sight of the deep red in Ty Lee's cheeks.

"I'm sorry I had overreacted. I had no right to yell at you or run away like that. You were right in a way, I hadn't been spending enough time with the gaang, and because of that, I lost connection with everyone… with you." I said the last part quietly. I thought I heard a little "Awww." Coming from Ty Lee, and soon I was becoming incased in a Ty Lee hug, and I quickly responded by giving back the hug.

"Thank the Spirits you're back! I missed you so much." She said. I smiled and blinked away the tears I felt coming on. I suddenly remembered why I had come back in the first place, and broke the hug long enough to stand up and help Ty Lee up. She looked at me with mild confusion.

"What?" She asked. I large, proud smile crept across my face as I couldn't wait to tell her until I found Aang.

"That's why I was rushing so much to get here; I know how to stop the Spirit Wave!" I said excitedly. Ty Lee's eyes bulged out of her head and she just looked at me in a numb shock for a moment before she was contaminated with the same goofy and proud smile I had on.

"Teo, that's great! I can't believe it! What is it?" I quickly whispered my idea in her ear. Every now and then she would blink and those long eyelashes of hers would flick across my cheek. I hoped that she didn't notice how red my cheeks were turning. When I finished explaining my idea she jumped up, and seemed to be glowing with something that I hadn't seen in her in a while.

"C'mon! We have to tell Aang right away! He, Sokka, and Zuko are in the War-tent right now trying to come up with an idea. We'll tell them there, and any adjustments can be made quickly and easily! Teo, I think you just saved the world… and probably Aang and Sokka's lives!" I grinned and the red in my cheeks deepened. I looked down at my shoes.

"Well, I think you may be exaggerating a bit. I bet Aang or Sokka would've come up with it too. Sokka is Mr. Plan Guy. Honestly, I was lucky to even stumble on the idea when…" She cut me off with an exasperated sigh and an amused roll of her eyes.

"Teo, don't be so modest! This is amazing, and you deserve every bit of praise I'm giving you… plus much more! Now c'mon, let's go find Aang!" With that, she grabbed my wrist and dragged me back into the labyrinth of tents, weaving back and forth until we got to a large red tent.

**Aang's POV: **I looked at the map one last time, staring angrily and tiredly at the black stripe standing by the Eastern Ocean. Together, Zuko, Sokka, and I already decided that the very first thing we should do when they first come, is I will have to send Koh back immediately, before he can look at the faces of the troops.

"What about Aang sends Koh back and Katara stays near him to heal him, and quickly replenishes his energy, then the troops break into groups of fifty and start hindering the Spirits, then I could…" Sokka said. I didn't even look up from the map, while subtly clutching my stomach. Both Sokka and I had been really affected by the Wave in the past few days. I know Roku had told me that we would fill it most, but I didn't expect the throbbing in my head and all my flesh radiating a burning heat, while my stomach collapsed in on itself, knowing away at itself. I heard Zuko cut Sokka off.

"No, Katara is going to be needed in the fight. The best waterbender in the world will be needed because the Wave will come towards us over the water. She could help by weakening them before they reach us." Zuko argued. I heard Sokka groan and I turned to see him rub at his temples and bite his lower lip.

"From that far out? We're all weakened, and even with me powering up the troops, she wouldn't be able to do too much damage that far out. She'd be better off not starting out exhausted." Sokka argued back. They had been down each other's throats for the past day, and the three of them were being affected. I have a feeling that Sokka and I are going to die. Clearly, no brilliant ideas are emerging in this screaming zone.

"Aang, Teo just came up with a brilliant idea!" he heard Ty Lee shout as she burst through the flaps of the door with Teo dragging behind. Well, that was strangely on cue.

"Slow down. What's going on? What do you mean Ty Lee?" I asked, finding that the migraine I had was actually subsiding slightly.

"Well, I think I know how to end the war, and stop the Spirit Wave. I just had this idea yesterday, so I want to run it by you guys." The migraine had now subsided so much that it had been demoted to a mere headache.

"That's great Teo!" Sokka said happily, and Zuko looked happily curious.

"I'm pretty sure if this works, then Aang and Sokka should survive also." He said. My heart raced and momentarily, all the crap that had been attacking me was gone. Through vibrations, I felt Sokka's heart speed up.

"Well, don't leave us in the dark! Fill us in!" Zuko said impatiently, but excitedly. I listened as Teo described the entire thing, which actually didn't take that long. The plan was simple, and should've been fairly obvious. It seemed perfect.

"I'll run the idea by Roku, and see if it can work, but I don't see why not! Sokka and Zuko, you two need to map out the plan and find the battle plot and coordinates of first contact, things like that. I need to see if this is plausible to the environment. Teo… you should go _spar _with Ty Lee, she's gotten kind of shabby in the agility and speed department, and we can't have that!" I smiled as I waggled my eyebrows at him, suggesting to take a break for once. Only if it's ten minutes, it's more of a break than he's had in the past two weeks. I suppose after everything that happened, he was finally ready to take a break.

I watched Teo and Ty Lee leae happily and waited until Sokka and Zuko had started making calculations and discussing troop arrangements before I sat in a meditative position and let myself slip, then I crossed into the Spirit World.

I opened my eyes to find myself sitting on a wide and thick branch of a humongous tree. Roku was standing by the trunk of the tree about five feet away. He was smiling and as soon as I stood up, his grin widened, and he nodded his head.

Yes.

**Sokka's POV: **My eyes were less sore and square feeling, and the stabbing in my stomach had finally calmed slightly. Zuko and I had been crunching intervals of coordinance of location by the plains. There was a beach just a half of a mile away from the cliff, which we would be positioned just after the sand, because it's harder to move in the sand. I had gone to sleep early to be well rested, but I also woke up before sunrise to continue proofing and making sure I have the exact and most updated geographic lays.

Zuko had left about five minutes ago, he always wake up early and had been helping me, but he went to see Mai, who just woke up right before the sunrise. I was still here double checking the plans and overlooking other options, still coming to the conclusion that the current plan was the best.

The idea that I maybe would live had lit a fire under me. I had been prepared to die tonight, and had planned to spend the entire evening with Toph, but now there was hope, and I wanted to secure it.

Aang was still in the Spirit World, so he and Roku must be having a really long conversation. I wonder if there's a problem with the idea, if this doesn't work we are screwed!

Tomorrow we'll be training for a good part of the day for two hour intervals. Aang will address the troops and let them know what's going to happen. At sunset the Wave will start to come. Then, we'll be ready. Then we'll sound the drums of war.

**Zuko's POV: **Mai and I had talked for a little bit, and just kind of walked around, not really seeing where we're going. After several minutes about talking about training, fighting styles, boring palace life, favorite servants, and just about everything, we found ourselves on the cliff that faced the Eastern Sea. After a minute of realizing where we were and that we drifted so far away from the troops, we slowly sat down and looked at the sunrise. It was breathtaking. There was a full array of colors with purple clouds and pink linings. The sky was a deep blue with other mixes of powers and shades. It really would've been perfect…

if not for that long pitch black line streaking across the horizon. There was a gorgeous sunrise surrounding the horizon, and the only thing that either of us could look at was that malicious black streak like someone stabbed the horizon with a drippy ink brush.

"It's really coming, isn't it?" Mai asked, her eyes giving away the sadness, but still showing that absence of fear. "It's really coming to end the world." I wrapped her up in a tight hug and let tears fall for once. I'll have to be brave and strong when the troops wake up, but for now I can just sit here and be weak, with the girl that I love in my arms.

Just one moment to be weak… the tears continued to fall, and I was positive that Mai was doing the same.

**Aang's POV: **I stared at the tree and wondered how long it has been here. Just this very high branch I was standing on could be mistaken for a three hundred year old tree on its side. This tree must be ancient; at least twenty times larger than the Heart of the Swamp that had once called to me.

I stood up and walked over to the smiling Roku, a goofy grin of my own plastered on my face.

"Hey Roku, I suppose you overheard Teo's plan?" I asked him even though the answer was obvious.

"I did, and there is a great chance that it might work. The one problem is that, to do what you have in mind, there is a type of judgment that needs to be undertaken, that I need to explain to you. That's why I brought you here, to the Old History Tree. This tree has been in root for as long as time itself has been ticking on, and I can show you visions of the past, and of possible futures. Certain Spirits use this tree to help write prophesies, and send prophetic dreams. I need it to help you understand what needs to be done." Roku said, and I nodded and listened carefully, nodding at all the right moments and adding "mm-hmm's" and "Yes I know's" The words finally sunk into my head as I comprehended them, putting piece by piece together. Finally I nodded at the end, and Roku turned to look at me.

"Aang, do you understand what you must do." He asked me solemnly. I slowly nodded in a slight sadness.

"Yes I understand. But I can't understand why I can't help in that retrospect." I said. I would rather it be me than anyone else.

"Because you are the Avatar, and therefore would be an imbalance. You are balanced as you are, but would tilt the scale in this circumstance. I'm sorry, but you must be excluded from this part of your plan." I nodded.

"Thank you Roku." Then there was that slipping feeling again, and I opened my eyes to see an empty plan room.

I walked outside and saw the troops training with everyone else. It was middle of the morning… I had been gone for an entire night. I quickly pulled Sokka over with a nod of my head. He quickly jumped out of the lineup and ran over. He looked sweaty, so they must have been training for a while.

"Hey, do we have a plan?" He asked casually, but I saw the panic in his eyes. He was just as afraid for his and my life as I was for mine and his. I smiled and nodded quickly. The sooner I got the panic out of his face, the better.

"Yes!" he almost screamed it, cheering loudly.

"I'm going to address the plan to all the troops today after lunch. Tonight is the fight, they need to be ready and know what'll happen." I told him. He ended his cheering and nodded gravely. In about three hours I'd be telling the troops all about what is going to happen. And in about eight hours, it comes.

I looked out to the horizon and yelped in surprise. The thin black line that was lying across the horizon earlier had bulked up. It looked like the thickness of my leg, and it started to take the form of a cloud; roiling, blackening, devouring… and wickedly grinning.

The skin all over my body crawled as I felt a sudden chill. They were coming for us.

**Toph's POV: **Katara and I were fighting on the beach, I was only allowed to use sand, putting me at a bit of a disadvantage. I would be on solid ground tonight during the fight, but just in case. Both of us were feeling better than we've felt in forever, but a little pissed at Zuko.

Somehow, we were the very last ones to read the ZP, so the last one's to know that it's possible Aang and Sokka could survive. We just found out this morning. About two hours ago we found out that Teo had come up with the genius plan that would save Sokka and Aang. We were both obviously overjoyed. The twitching in my hands that had been getting progressively worse the last few days was calming down, and Katara told me that the clammy skin and cold sweats that she's been getting better too.

I threw a sand dragon at Katara, who reacted with a pillar of ice in front of her. What a dumb move? Sand melts ice! I distracted her with a sand whip while having the sand wear away at her pillar, turning the sand wet, and thus more deadly.

She deflected my sand whip successfully to turn almost in time to see my drenched sand dragon hit her square in the stomach. I brought sand up to wrap around her and trap her.

"I win!" I said cheerily. Katara stuck her tongue out at me and I just grinned cheekily before letting the sand crawl off of her and helped her stand up by pushing the sand to gently help her up.

"You're much too happy for the day of the wave… then again, so am I." Katara said in a giddy manner. I rolled my eyes and we both giggled. After a week and a half of preparing for the ripping of our hearts, we find out that we have nothing to worry about, now even a Spirit Wave coming to wipe out all life could destroy our moods.

I turned my head when I heard that quick pitter-patter of Ty Lee's footsteps. I sighed and prepared for my headache to come back full force. I guess I was wrong; there was one thing that could destroy my mood. That Spirit Wave hath no torture method equal to Ty Lee's annoying moments… though arguing with her is fun.

"Hey, Katara! Hey Toph!" Aang wants to see you both. Apparently you two are once again a crucial part of the plan." Ty Lee said in her bubbly and airy voice. We turned to each other curiously, shrugged, then started running. If he wanted to talk to us seven hours before the wave comes, then something important had to be done, or being prepared to do.

**Aang's POV: **I stood in front of the excited crowd of soldiers, friends, and allies. About three thousand faces stared at me. Behind me, my six best friends in the world, and my fiancée stood behind me. I breathed in slowly, and began to talk.

"As you know, in about five hours, the sun will set, and the moment the tip of the sun touches that horizon, the Spirit Wave will start to come, and start to destroy all life. The actual wave will be the main destruction, that travels very far behind the actual Spirits, and will die out if we manage to send all of the Spirits back. So that's our goal." I said, restating what everybody already knew.

"The question now, is how. Every one of you are probably thinking it. You're all secretly wondering how a miniscule group of fighters and benders from around the world can face this Spirit Army." I saw the men look around. A few quietly nodded. Some looked down.

"How can we possibly face these Spirits? No human alone can face one, and it is impossible to kill one if it isn't in mortal form; which none of them are. Even with our four thousand some-odd men, we are still shot several soldiers for fifty of us to fight one Spirit. There's no way that we can win by our measly selves, and there's no way that we alone can stop them." I breathed deeply as the men gaped at me.

"Y'know, I hate this. I hate that I'm here, and I hate that you have to be here too. I hate that there's evil, and that I was the only one in the world, who is chosen to always fight it. Ever since I was told I was the Avatar, I've wished that I hadn't been, I've wished that I could've lived out a normal life. I know a lot of you wished you don't have to be here now." Once again there was more glancing around. I took a deep breath to avoid tears coming down my face, I blinked away the ones that had already started.

"But this isn't about wanting, and wishing for things to be different. This is about choices. Now it's your turn" I said boldly.

"So here's the part when you make a choice..."

* * *

**Ooh! Everyone hates me now! I was very careful about not giving too much away about Teo's plan. In fact, I cut Aang's speech off in the middle. Right after that line, he begins to explain the plan. Don't worry, you will find out the plan in the next chapter! **

**Ha ha! You have to wait!**


	16. Chokehold on the World

**Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry this took two weeks to write, this is 20 pages of the final battle! After this there's only the epilogue before I'm done! Thanks for bearing with me for so long, and I hope that you enjoyed it, it was a great ride! I want to thank all of you guys, and I'm sorry I took so long to update!**

**This is the long awaited battle! Hope it's everything you imagined, and better!**

**Disclaimer: I wish!**

* * *

Chapter Sixteen: Chokehold on the World

**Zuko's POV: **I really should be with Toph, Katara, Sokka, and Teo right now. Aang is going to go over the details of what we need to do again. I couldn't help it though; I had to look at the ZP one more time to make sure that every one of the checks had been filled out. I wanted to make sure we didn't forget anything. One line that wasn't filled out and we could all be eating a huge black cloud for our Last Supper. (A/N Whoops! Didn't mean to add any religion in here… also note, I'm not Christian)

I rolled open the ancient paper and stared at the words, and the puzzle pieces all started to fit together.

_The smog is coming_

_The two won't survive unless…_

_The hushed will be smart_

_It must be arranged together, separation is playing into their device_

_Earth, Air, Water, Fire; in the circle, power will conspire_

_Fight fire with fire, the hushed will understand_

"The smog is coming" obviously was warning us about the Spirit Wave. I laughed at how obvious that was. I couldn't help but think _No crap! Is that why there's a black streak across the horizon! That all makes sense now! _I shook my head and forced myself back into seriousness, although it wasn't that hard due to the dryness in my eyes and sore arms.

"The two won't survive unless" meant Aang and Sokka. At least we know what to do so they probably won't die. That the Spirits for Teo's plan, even though I felt kinda stupid for not coming up with the obvious sooner.

"The hushed will be smart." Well, Teo was really smart this week!

"It must be arranged together, separation is playing into their device." Wow, Teo was owning all of us in the prophesy. This has to be talking about the troops wouldn't train or bunk together.

"Earth, Air, Water, Fire, in the circle, power will conspire." I nodded. That was already covered too.

"Fight fire with fire, the hushed will understand." I nodded one last time. Teo's plan. It was all in here. We were all set.

I rolled up the prophesy and threw it in my bag and quickly ran down towards the beach until I found Katara, Toph, and Teo in the masses. They all looked at me when I ran over to them slightly out of breath. There, next to all of them was Aang, Sokka, and Ty Lee. I saw everyone saying goodbye to their boyfriends/girlfriends. The troops were saying goodbye to each other too.

I turned towards Ty Lee and Teo, who were talking very loudly. Actually, Teo was standing looking worriedly at Ty Lee, while she paced quickly in front of him. She spun to face him, looking more than slightly panicked.

"I don't know if I'll be able to do this Teo!" She cried. "Me and evil Dark Spirit Waves coming to destroy the world are very non-mixey things!" Tears started to form at her eyes and she began to twiddle her fingers in anxiety.

Teo walked over to her and hugged her to stop her shaking. "Don't worry." He whispered in her ear to comfort her. "Things will turn out all right… they have to." She leaned in to hug him back, and I turned away from them, feeling like I was invading on something private.

Similar scenarios were happening with Sokka and Toph, and Katara and Aang. I didn't want to interrupt, so I turned to look for Mai. I found her almost immediately with Iroh and she was putting a message into a messenger hawk. I ran over to them and hugged Iroh quickly before turning to look at Mai.

"What's that?" I ask her curiously. She turns to me and grins sheepishly before quickly explaining.

"It's to Sera. She's one of my handmaidens, but she's only eleven years old. She came to work here to help feed her family and, I don't know, I'm kinda protective over her. I'm telling her that she needs to go to the royal underground bunker if the sun sets and she sees a black cloud over the horizon. I don't know if the Spirits will affect anyone underground, but I just wanted to do everything I could." I smiled at her and watched as the hawk flew away. Mai turned to me and kissed my quickly.

"Be careful." She said solemnly, looking me in the eyes. I looked into her gold eyes and saw worry in them. But once again, it was not for herself, she was never worried for herself.

"I promise. You be careful too." I said. She smiled sadly and hugged me quickly before looking over my shoulder, then back to me sadly.

"You have to go." She said, pointing to where Teo, Toph, Sokka, and Katara were looking at me impatiently. I frowned slightly. "See you after the battle." She said. Then she disappeared into the throngs of the crowd. I sighed and turned to walk back to Toph, Teo, and Katara, looking at the horizon one last time before I started to walk back. About half of the horizon was black now, and the cloud was very distinct. You could see where it had rolled over like tumbling smog, and the lightning inside the blackness was screaming at us ever too evilly.

**Aang's POV: **The sun was about to hit the horizon, and the moment it did, the Spirits could break through into the physical world and tear it to shreds. I was standing at the front of the troops. Staring at the looming horizon, and waiting for the sun to sink to touch it. It would only be a few minutes now.

Katara, Toph, Teo, Zuko, and Sokka were standing on a tall rock pillar in a circle. Toph stood at the place in the circle pointing North, Zuko stood on the east corner, Teo in the South corner, and Katara in the West. Sokka stood in the center of the four of them, ready to empower their energy, playing as the connection to the Spirit World. Just a few more moments now….

Then the sun touched the horizon, and the black cloud started to move forward. It started ever so slowly, but started to move faster. I know that the actual murdering cloud wouldn't come until about forty minutes until after the Spirits come, but I still feared. I sighed as I heard the murmuring in the troops, the fingers that were being pointed at the cloud, and the kicking in the dirt nervously. I heard every soldier's heartbeat, speeding and pounding, getting to ready to rip through their chests. My own heart was following a similar beat. My entire mind would do nothing but keep running through my speech about two or three hours ago.

_Flashback: _

"_So here's the part where you make a choice." I said loudly. They all looked at me. _

"_Suppose we did have the numbers to stop them. Suppose we could have the power. When the first benders came to the world, they created a deep elemental magic forbidding all the Spirits from coming to the physical world at the same time. Those four benders were very powerful. My friends of each of the four elements are much more powerful then all of them." They all looked over to Katara, Toph, Zuko, and Sokka. I smiled proudly at them. _

"_Katara, Toph, Zuko, and Teo are going to combine and try to channel all their elemental power into Sokka, who's able to channel the power into the Spirit world and be able to open the gateway to let the Spirits help us in the fight. The only Spirits that can't take form here are the four elemental Spirits. If the conjoining of the elements works, those four Spirits will channel their knowledge and power into each of my friends. With the Spirit's help, we can beat back the wave. And we can win." The soldiers began to smile and murmur some more, this time more excited._

"_Now here's the part where you make a choice. You can choose to run, and die… or you can choose to fight back, look fear right in the face, and choose to be brave. Are you ready to be brave?" The waves of our troops cheered. Now, we had an army._

_End Long Waited for Flashback:_

We could all feel the rumble and the Wave was coming. I could see towards the fifty Spirits. Of all the strange creatures, I recognized at least two. One was Koh from when I met him at the Siege on the North. I also recognized Wang Shi Tong from the library. I saw Koh snake from the side to the very front, ready to deface (literally) the troops. I waited for a few moments before clearing my face of all expression and hopping on my glider. The first step of the plan was under way to take Koh off of their forces.

I flew straight up for a few moments before diving towards the space where Koh would be in a few seconds. My hand made contact with his ever-changing head and I felt a surge of energy, willing myself into the Avatar State so I could easily take on the strain of pulling the snake through my body. It came easier than pulling the half snake, half man spirit that was attacking Sokka. Koh had tendrils, not arms, so he couldn't struggle as much.

I grumbled a bit after I knew Koh was gone, but I didn't feel the energy depletion nearly as much because I had the energy supply of every Avatar combined. I flew back to the troops quickly and turned to see my friends on the tall pillar had already started the ritual. They circled around on the pillar gracefully, and I waiting in apprehension.

**Katara's POV: **Aang had explained what we needed to do in advanced. He gave us a much more detailed explanation than he gave the troops. And he also told us something that he didn't tell the troops; he told us that it might not work.

We had to stand on a very elevated place, so that was why we were all on a tall pillar. I had to stand on the west side of the pillar, facing the middle. Each of us had to combine our power into the one element.

According to Roku, there were the four elements that were all aspects of the one element; Spirit. The Spirits are merely a purified combination of all four energies including light and dark. The only exceptions to this rule are the Powers that Be. That would be the Fire Spirit, The Water Spirit, the Earth Spirit, and the Air Spirit. Toph already met Rhea; the Earth Spirit from when we had to save Sokka, Teo was given his legs and airbending from the Air Spirit, and the Fire Spirit had taken the Fire Lord's life two years ago. The Moon and Ocean Spirits are both aspects of the Water Spirit, who has yet to be known in her full form.

We basically had to combine our four elements, and try to prove our worth to the Powers that be; if we're strong enough, the Powers that Be will be able to combine their power with ours. In the joining of the Elemental Spirits and the four most powerful benders in the world, Akasha will be awakened, which is the fifth of the Powers that Be, and the center of the Universe, the creator of the world, and the creator of every living thing as it is in the center of every beings soul. Some call it an aura, some call it soul, but it's best known as Pure Spirit.

Once Akasha is awakened, it will channel itself into Sokka and Aang, who were created for human balance, one as fighting power, one as a strengthening power. Then Each of the four Elemental Spirits will temporarily channel their power and forever channel their skill and knowledge into us. Rhea will empower Toph, the Air Spirit named Anil will strengthen Teo, the Fire Spirit, Tanguy will strengthen Zuko, and the Water Spirit named Kaira will empower me. Akasha will empower both Sokka and Aang.

…if we're strong enough. If not, then we'll all be immediately killed by the extremity of undiluted power.

I tried to avoid that thought as I waited for the sun to touch the horizon. The second it did, Aang took off into the sky robotically, and we all turned to each other. Sokka sat down in a meditative pose, and we all closed our eyes and began to chant rhythmically.

_Earth, Air, Water, Fire. __In the circle we conspire._

We began to circle around each other slowly. At first it was just walking sideways, crossing and uncrossing our arms in front of us. A quiet hum came from the wind. For now, the black cloud, the troops, Aang on his glider, everything just fell away.

_Water, Fire, Earth, Air __Spiritual boundaries briefly tear_

Then we started to move faster. I pulled all the water out of my five pouches unknowingly, and started gliding and turning slowly and gracefully. In my semi-subconscious I barely realized that I was doing the Water Tribe Dance called "Moon to the Tides". It was said to contain the secrets of the very essence of water.

_Air, Earth, Fire, Water __Cross over today to defend from slaughter_

My eyes saw Zuko stepping strongly across me in what I recognized to be the Dancing Dragon. On my right Teo was twirling quickly and lightly, each spin was fast and playful. Toph was stepping strongly side to side, while pushing the side-steps forward, as if she was a Badger Mole.

_Fire, Water, Air, Earth __Help protect life and birth_

None of us completely realized it, but we were all sending our bending towards the center of the circle. It was barely able to be felt, and what my eyes saw didn't connect to my brain.

_Earth, Air, Water, Fire __For today, the immortals we sire_

Just above Sokka's head, a bubble of air wrapped around a floating ring of rocks, metal, and sand. Just underneath it was a ring of water, and in the center was a small and circular ball of fire.

_Water, Fire, Earth, Air __Before the world is beyond repair_

We couldn't see anything. I was connected. I felt all three of their souls mixing with mine and running through my body. It was all in perfect balance as each of the opposing elements clashed benignly, and my friend's hearts, bodies, and souls were combined with mine.

_Fire, Water, Air, Earth __Look through our souls to see our worth_

Then, an immense amount of pressure was thrust on me, and I felt it shoving me towards the ground. I resisted as strongly as I could and just kept repeating the "Moon to the Tide". The energy pushing down on the four of us was heavy, and I could feel the persons shoving down on me, and entering me through everywhere. It seeped in through every pore and searched through every inch of my insides. We felt so connected, so strong, so powerful, so strained.

_Air, Earth, Fire, Water __Loan us your understanding and power_

Then the connection to Toph, Teo, and Zuko was cut off abruptly, and I was attacked by a surge of power that came down onto me in strong waves. That moment I flung my head back and gasped as I felt every cell in me come into consciousness. I had felt through the moisture in the air that Toph, Teo, and Zuko had all done the same simultaneously.

Power spread over me and I felt a rush of knowledge. So many things about water I had not known all flooded into my brain. I could feel myself glowing, and I knew that the others were doing the same.

The instant we had gasped we all heard a scream, and in my awareness, I knew it was Sokka, but it wasn't completely a scream of pain.

Suddenly, feeling empowered, I looked to see our bubble of the combined elements constricting, and closing in on itself. Without me doing anything, the bubble descended, until it came to Sokka's chest, right where his heart was.

Then Sokka's heart absorbed the elements, and everything exploded.

In a white light, the four of us were thrown off the tall pillar and landed on our backs on the ground painlessly. I turned to see the four of us glowing brighter than Sokka has ever made us, and we felt the Spirits of the raw elements lending us their full power, and giving us their knowledge and skill. We turned to see the top of the pillar, and the entire sky was lit up in a blinding white light. Brighter than the Giver, brighter than the Avatar State, brighter than the Moon Spirit reincarnation.

Akasha was awake.

**Zuko's POV: **I was on fire. I was being surrounded by the fire of the dragon's. Only this time, it was in my body, radiating out. I could hear the fire's heartbeat, and feel it's breathing. I was breathing in tune with it.

By now the valley had been dimmed down to almost complete black, as the Spirit Wave had blocked out the sun. In the dark there were six people covering the sky with their glow. I illuminated the red glow into the sky and around me completely.

Aang and Sokka were both the brightest white I have ever seen, their entire body covered in it, and the white glow covered everywhere.

Sokka shakily stood up, and I turned to him. He still looked like he was carrying the pressure that we four had only a minute ago. He stood in the circle throwing his arms and head back as far as he could, and the Spirits came out from his chest, in a quietly shimmering blue. Eighty of them exploded out from his body before he collapsed. The benders among the soldiers began to glow, but not as brightly as us four. I burned happily, and found my way into a stance. My mind going over all the new knowledge I had of pure fire, and how to bend it.

The glowing army and the Black army connected and the battle began.

**Teo's POV: **I was flying without my staff. The power was overwhelming and the knowledge was incredible. The wind was singing to me, and I understood every note. It was beautiful and powerful. There was a yellow glow radiating around me and I knew everything that anyone ever has about the air.

There were about eighty pale blue, and transparent beings hovering slightly above the troops and I knew finally for a fact that my plan had worked. Our forces were all set aglow, between the Spirits pale blue, the benders in the troops being lit up by Sokka, Sokka, Aang, Zuko, Toph, Katara, and me. The black came closer, but no cloud, no matter how thick, can diminish this light.

They came, and we separated into unspoken groups. I saw a Giant Owl thing with onyx eyes fly towards me, and several others. Some firebenders threw a few hot punches at him, but he just flew over them. I interfered by sending a huge blast of air at him. He was flung high in the air in a flurry of feathers, and I had the wind pick me up to meet him. I wrapped him in an air rope and started flinging him around the sky before dragging him to the ground.

He snapped his beak towards me in an attempt to break a bone, but the whistling that the air made when anything moved through it warned me as soon as the owl started to come towards me. It was like Toph's vibrations. The wind will sing in a special way whenever someone moves to attack you. I had never imagined that, but I now saw how true it was. Anil had taught me so much. I turned quickly and flicked my wrist quickly and the beak flung backwards, a snapping sound fairly evident.

I flung him to the ground and a pale blue spirit came and lay a hand-like thing on the Owl's forehead. Slowly, they both started to dim, and become even more transparent then they were before… if that was possible in the good spirit's case. The bad Spirits weren't transparent like the good ones. Finally they both disappeared, and I knew they were back in the Spirit World for good.

I turned to see similar pictures. At least three other Spirits were being dragged back, and the soldiers were quickly coming to fight them back. The cloud was already noticeably thinner. Through the wind's warning, I felt a Hog Monkey type thing flying towards me from the side and I flung my arm out to the side carelessly, hearing a squeal as I scanned the crowd for Ty Lee. I quickly found the small pink girl in the crowd, and ran over to her. She smiled and squinted for a moment, but even through the squinting I could tell she was nervous about something.

"What's wrong? You seem upset." I said. She had gotten used to the glow a bit, and had eased up on the squinting.

"I have nothing against them. If one of them came up to me, then the only thing I could do is run away."

"Why, you're a great fighter!" I protested worriedly, turning quickly to fling that annoying Hog Monkey thing to the ground, hard. It squealed again and I flung him up about sixty feet in the air, smirking slightly because I knew I used to only be able to fling someone fifteen feet in the air, even after my intensive training I could only get twenty. I turned back around to Ty Lee who had flinched slightly from the Hog Monkey spirit.

"I can block the chi of people. I don't know where Spirits have pressure points… if they have them at all." She said slightly distressed. My eyes widened slightly and didn't even turn from her when that spirit damned Hog Monkey thing started falling back down. I just spun my wrist and then flung my arm backwards towards it.

"Listen, Ty Lee, can you block the chi of a regular Hog Monkey?" I asked, she nodded slowly, looking at me. I smiled and trapped that Hog monkey Spirit in an air bubble, before dragging it forward and pinning it to the ground.

"Okay, then try to stop this guy from moving his legs using what you know about a regular Hog Monkey." The animal Spirit glared at me, and Ty Lee sighed sadly before jabbing it a few times. I slowly let the bubble loose, but he didn't move. I smiled and hugged her.

"You're fine Ty Lee, now just keep being amazing and this will be over in a minute." She smiled and nodded before cartwheeling away. I flung the Hog Monkey about twenty feet away, where a pale blue Spirit came and dragged him back.

I smiled and turned back to the crowd of fighting Spirits. Even though we were obviously winning, the six of us Spirit-empowered fighters couldn't take every one of the Spirits, and soldiers were getting hurt. The smile was quickly gone from my face and I jumped back into action.

**Aang's POV: **The ritual had obviously worked, because my entire body started glowing a bright white, not just my tattoos. I felt every Avatar behind me, powering me up and pouring their knowledge into me. But they weren't the only ones putting their selves behind me. I felt that Akasha was awake, and she was strongly throwing her all into me and Sokka. It was beautiful, and I felt a tear slip past my eyes.

I had fought against seven Spirits so far, and I felt almost unstoppable. My humility and caution was the one thing holding me back. There was one other thing that I hadn't told the troops. If both Sokka and I die while Akasha was channeling herself through us, then Akasha will fall back into her unconscious, and the spirits that came to help us will get pulled back, and there'll be nothing stopping the Spirits from wiping out the world.

I wouldn't let that happen.

The Spirit that I was fighting now had the head of a Moose Lion, and the body of a Badger Mole. I struck him with a pillar or rock on his underside in between his legs, and he was flung up ten feet in the air. He landed on the ground, and I felt him stepping closer to me through the vibrations in the ground. I quickly pulled out a long whip of flames and had it strike the ground right in front of the huge beast. It roared out in pain and I threw a gust of air at the creature, blowing him up into the air, into the reach of a waiting Spirit. I saw them both hover for a moment before they started to fade.

I turned and scanned the field, noting only about fifteen more black Spirits, and the cloud in the background start to become thinner, and more of a darkish gray. It was also closer. Using the air as an amplifier of my voice, I jumped up and shouted a command at the troops.

"The cloud is coming closer! Everyone take the fighting more upland!" Everyone reacted immediately, trying to run up the small slope towards the hills, but not in the direction of the tents. There was a crack of lightning far off, and it started raining heavily, and the ground became muddy. We still ran slightly uphill, and dragged the Spirits up with us. The cloud was moving faster now. We were on a race against time.

**Katara's POV: **We were doing amazing, and everything was working perfectly. It had even started raining, so I could feel everything more clearly. I was in touch with every drop of water. The air was surrounded with it, and anything that had water was within my sight.

I was in the middle of fighting a type of Cat Gator, and had just crashed a lake's worth of water on the thing. It snarled at me and I merely smirked before wrapping it in a bubble of water and freezing it from the inside out. I retook stance and had the ice implode in on itself with a crack. Icy pieces of shrapnel were flying straight towards the Cat Gator Spirit. A low roar that also resembled a whimper had sounded from the place where he was.

I had assumed that a Pale Spirit would take care of him, and turned to whip another Spirit that was attacking several non-bender soldiers. Then I felt a tingle that told me that the water on the Cat Gator was moving towards me, getting ready to jump at my head. I picked up more water from the soaked ground and pretended to get ready to strike another spirit. I waited for one moment, then at the last second spun around and hit the pissed spirit square in the stomach, sending it flying to the left.

"Fore!" I called, and four earthbenders and two firebenders dropped to their knees to avoid being hit with a flying Cat Gator Spirit. They looked at me for a moment. Even though they were squinting to protect their eyes from the gorgeous and warm blue glow that surrounded me, I could tell that they were mildly pissed. "Sorry!" I called sheepishly towards them, before I felt that tingle again and spun to throw down another attacking spirit with a flying kick.

I quickly allowed myself a moment to see a Pale Spirit taking care of Mr. Gator. That quick glance was all I gave myself before spinning to attack the next Spirit. I found about seventy soldiers, already taking care of him and I was allowed to take a breather. We were starting to outnumber them, and I had maybe a minute to catch my breath.

The one thing was, I wasn't out of breath at all. I was fine. I didn't need a breather, I was raring for another Spirit to fight. Every part of me was flowing with an unchained wave of energy and knowledge.

I started towards another Spirit that I saw near me, and almost tripped over something on the ground. I had a stream of water come up off the ground to help push me back to my feet, and I looked down to see what had tripped me.

It was a body. The body of a hurt earthbender was lying on the ground, slowly dying.

Instinctively, I pulled out a small stream of clean water and started examining him to see where the damage was. I kept my senses out for any possible attacking Spirit while I continued to look the man over. He must be in his middle forties, and aging muscles had slowed him down. I looked until I found the large bite mark on his stomach and back. I quickly ran over the water and felt the wound close up, almost immediately.

Intricately twisting my wrist in a new healing technique I learned about ten minutes ago. I felt the blood cells multiply themselves and rush over to the area in the stomach he was hit. The man smiled at me and I gently helped him sit up. After a moment, he was in a standing position, and his grateful smile was even larger, also being filled with a determined smirk.

The tingle came back, and I turned to see a colossal glob of black ooze approaching. It was about five times my size, and I gaped. I heard quick and powerful footsteps, and soon felt Toph next to me with the emerald glow surrounding her. For some reason, I didn't feel the need to flinch. Maybe because I was emitting a wave of blue glow right now too.

"Hey Sugar Queen, friend of yours?" She asked sarcastically. I rolled my eyes in spite of the terror I felt. The fear didn't just come from me, I knew that even Kaira, the Water Spirit held a level of fear of this Spirit. I turned to Toph.

"Actually, from the look of him, I thought he was your friend." I shot back. She smirked and laughed, but there was also fear in her face.

**Zuko's POV: **I watched as the last Spirit near me had fallen. I was barely out of breath. The heat running through my body had not let up, and I felt it empower me with a passionate energy for the thrill of the fight.

I turned to see only one dark spirit left. It looked like a giant walking mud pile. The thing was oozing a purply/black goo that stained the ground, and killed the grass with a type of poison. It frowned and took a deep breath in and flung its arms out to the side, like it was going to bend. Instead, the mud clinging to him flung out at the pale Spirits helping us and coated them in that dark purple ooze.

I saw the pale Spirits start to fade and felt the barely existent heat that their bodies emit start to disappear. That Spirit had pulled all of our spiritual allies back to the Spirit World. I expected my skin to fade to its normal pale, but it stayed a blinding red. We hadn't lost contact with the Elementals. At least that was good.

I turned to face Mr. Mud pile, and he let a slow roiling purple gunk towards some soldiers near me. In defense I tried to burn it with a superheated whip, or heat it up enough to evaporate the gunk. I unleashed a full blaze onto the ground, not holding back to save the already dead grass.

Once the flames died out, my eyes widened, as I saw that the slime hadn't even been affected. Looking over, I saw the purple glop start to reach the troops. The moment they were touched by the gunk, there was a sizzling, and they were being chemically burned and mutilated. I stared in horror for a bit before creating a jet underneath me so I was in the air, away from the flow.

"All soldiers and benders run for the tents!" I screamed as loud as I could. The alive and unharmed ones hesitated for a second before reluctantly shying away from the battlefield.

I found Teo and Aang in the air also, and flew to them, dodging any mud pies headed my way; however Mud Man was slightly busy because Katara was giving the muddy Spirit a much needed bath, as well as directing the glop away from the troops, and towards the ocean.

Toph was quickly pulling the three of the grounded ones (her, Sokka, and Katara) up onto pillars of rock to protect them, as well as putting up a thick wall to help the troops get to safety. From the air I could see Ty Lee and Mai near the back of the troops, constantly looking back. There were a couple metal/rock cages and ice cages dotted around the field, and I knew it was to protect the wounded soldiers.

Rain started pouring around me, and my clothes clung to my skin tightly, but my vision wasn't blurred at all. I could see everything around me with perfect clarity. I saw Teo swoop in and blow the giant Spirit off his feet with the largest blast of air I had ever seen, and Toph trapped his muddy body in rock shackles. I smirked, but a low rumble came from the Final Spirit, and that acid type of purple ooze poured from the large pores on his body, and the rock sizzles away like a fireless burning. The low rumble came from him again, and I understood that the mud Spirit was laughing.

"Young child heroes, your journey ends here." The thing boomed and I could help the shiver that was sent down my spine. My flesh trembled at the voice.

"If I had a copper piece for every time we've heard that one!" Sokka yelled. The creature just smirked. Though I could not see a mouth, his smirk was obvious somehow.

"You cannot defeat me alone. I am the very essence of the Black Wave; I am the heart of destruction. My entire purpose in this life is to instigate, to arouse to thoughts of devastation. I am the soul of war. My purpose is to bring on the death. I shall start with you six." His voice was a boom, a low rumble. The very sound of the words rolling out of his mouth sent a shock of fear through me.

**Aang's POV: **I felt the fear from every Avatar before me, along with the terror from my own heart. Then I heard the last thing he said, and smiled proudly before flying closer to him to get all up in the mud monster's face.

"Don't worry, we're not alone." I said proudly at the acknowledgement of the very truth in the statement. The creature smirked more.

"That is true. You are not alone. This will be interesting. The ultimate fight, against the elementals, and the death. Akasha will not win again." Through my peripheral vision, I saw every one of my friends wearing my same determined smile. As he spoke the words, memories of Roku's warnings flooded back into my head.

_Flashback:_

"_Just after the beginning of time, once the world had finally been finished, and settled, and Akasha could watch the world continue on its own, one necessary but morbid Spirit named Syr decided to challenge the Pure Spirit. Akasha won… but just barely. Syr; the Spirit of death was limited immensely and could never go to the physical world, nor use his ability frivolously." Roku told me seriously. I looked at him, confused._

"_But Roku, what does this have to do with anything?" I asked. _

"_I fear this Spirit may have rallied the Angry Spirits, and therefore, you will be fighting him in a few days. This will be a rematch to Syr, and therefore, you must be even more careful. Once again, the very nature of good will battle against the essence of evil. I wish you luck, and will be behind you when you do face him, and so will Akasha. You can do it Aang. I wish you luck."_

_End Flashback:_

I opened my eyes and breathed out slowly. I stepped into a stance, and waited for the fight to start.

Katara wrapped her arms together towards the sky, and every drop of rain in a five mile radius all snaked together to hover by her palms. It slowly build up all around her, and she spun her arms forward, sending a tsunami-type wave right at Syr, who merely clapped two muddy arms together, and put his head down. The water flowed to either side of him, taking a lot of mud with it.

Under all the gunk, and the purple ooze that every now and then came off of him, I wondered what he looked like. Was he like the hybrid of the animal Spirits that we fought? Was he a faceless entity like Koh? Did he have nothing under all the mud? No, there was something under all the mud.

I felt Akasha whisper to me quietly. _Under all the rot is the inner being. You must reach the monster under the mud to send him back. _The beautiful hiss of Akasha told me carefully. I exchanged a quick glance with Sokka, and I knew he heard it too. He quickly tapped out the message to Toph.

The blind earthbender grinned and slammed the ground with extended hands. Long and jagged spears came up from the ground to attempt to reach through all the mud. The entire ground rumbled and a giant spike protruded up through Syr, up through his head; steam from the strange purple acid came off of him. We stared at the rock spike coming through the his skull as he broke it off at the bottom and ripped it off of his head, mud and purple slime was attached. He continued to throw the enormous stake at Zuko, Teo and I, and we quickly flew away from the giant rock.

I quickly flung my arm out in a circular motion towards Syr while he was still recovering from the throw, and a gust of air was thrown at him quickly. I came up close to him and got behind him, trying to blow all the mud away quickly. Once the wind died down I saw that I had barely made a dent in the layers. It kind of reminded me of the glue that I once got covered in at the Sun Warrior chamber. I decided not to touch the mud/glue.

I blinked and mentally slapped myself. Mud equals wet rock! Wow, tons of points for intelligence today! I attempted to earthbend the mud away, but the mud refused to move. Maybe waterbending? I tried to waterbend, and the mud quivered a bit, but still held steadfast.

Something about him made him impervious to earthbending or airbending. So far, Katara's waterbending seemed to work the best. I know that Zuko told me that he couldn't burn or evaporate the purple stuff, but maybe the mud?

I sent a quick fire blast along with a roundhouse dragon kick, and the mud was affected for once. It dried up into a hardened clay, before peeling off, not making much more of a dent.

I didn't have much more time to ponder though, because I was hit square in the stomach with a hard gust of wind, and sent sprawling twenty feet into a nearby fir tree. I grumbled a bit before recovering slightly. Teo flew up to me.

"Sorry! He was gonna hit you with that purple gel thing!" Teo said quickly. I smiled and shook my head.

"Nah, thanks! Forget about it, rather a punch in the gut than death by unidentifiable chemical slime!" He smiled and hovered in the air for a second before sending a gust of air under his feet and flying away. I flew out of the tree just in time to see Katara sending a long blast of water at Syr, and a dark brown mass of water trickled over the ground.

**Zuko's POV: **Aang recovered quickly and Katara and Toph were distracting the thing with their bending, which was being powered up incredibly by Sokka. Those three were the pivotal fighters, and if they could wear him down long enough, Aang could send him back.

Then, the Spirit did the unthinkable. He crouched down, and flung his entire body forward, turning all that surplus mud into a whip that crashed into the three pillars, and sent them flying. Once they hit the ground, they would be tortured to death by the purple chemicals.

Aang reacted quickly, and ran to go catch them in an air net, followed by Teo who was after Katara, Toph, and Sokka in an instant. The monster started to recollect itself to send a final muddy blow towards the five of my friends. Everything went in slow motion for me as I saw him reach his arm back and…

Then he was thrown back slightly. My eyes widened to find something red mostly covered by mud stuck in the monster's stomach. It was a clay handle. I saw that the clay handle was shaped and decorated to look like rising flames. I also noticed that there was something attached to the handle. It was a small blade, and it was one I recognized.

I spun my head quickly to see a solemn, but proud Mai standing on the wall that Toph had made to protect the troops. The monster saw her too, and turned to strike her with that purple slime. The purple was already oozing out of the pores in its arms. I was struck with a kind of terror I had only felt once before.

_Flashback:_

"_It felt hollow." I started. She waited for me to continue in confusion. "It felt like everything I had worked to protect, needed to have, needed to love, was being ripped away from me. It wasn't just an emotional rip, it felt like someone was tearing a leg off, or ripping my heart out… because they were."_

_I closed my eyes and rubbed the bridge of my nose. Here came all the memories, lost in the crowded fields of my brain. Not so long ago seemed like eternity, yet also felt like yesterday as the emotions came up to choke me again so clearly. I attempted to swallow the lump in my throat before continuing._

"_It felt like pure emotions of hatred for Azula, terror for Mai, distress for thinking of losing her, guilt for endangering her, shame for not being able to protect her, and sadness for losing the most important person in the world to me. All of these pure emotions were shaking and being trapped in one place that was about to explode. Each heartbeat was the drums of war, and the moments I had left with her before Katara said that she couldn't do anything else. Then the rage and shame and guilt and hatred were drowned out by sorrow. It surrounded me. I didn't think I could go on. I felt cheated. I worked and suffered my entire life, then things finally start to go right, and then the one thing in my life that was always steady and protecting, and calm was being ripped away from me. It felt like my world was being fed to chaos itself."_

_End Flashback:_

Every word I had said to Toph that day, I had meant with a painful accuracy. Every emotion I remembered feeling that day rose up to my throat in bile and I attempted to swallow the lump, but couldn't. I couldn't. I couldn't lose her. Not again.

Without thinking, and without pausing, I lunged myself at the monster with full force and jets behind me. Everything I had in me was thrown into that leap. I came up to the mud, and my hand connected with Mai's dagger. I wrapped my hand around it and shoved it further into his stomach, feeling my knuckles turn white from my strong grip.

My arm went through the mud slowly and I ignored the slight itchy sting of the mud on my skin. The monster hadn't expected this, and was thrown back slightly. In truth, I hadn't expected it myself.

I felt the knife touch something. It felt like a cold and roughly polished stone, but the knife still went through the cold marble with ease. I heard the wheeze, and felt sort of proud to know that I had done something, because the monster clearly reacted the moment I penetrated the stone thing. The polished center was buried deep in the mud, and I was almost covered in the gunk trying to reach this core of the creature. For a moment, time stopped.

Then it started again. The monster regained composure, and I became suddenly aware of something intensely painful attacking and gnawing away at my flesh. Then I felt the ground get closer, though didn't dare open my eyes to confirm the fact, afraid of the mutilation the substance would do to it. I got my confirmation a moment later with the strong impact the earth made with my left shoulder, but cared less. The entire of my body was being sucked and boiled away by what I could guess was the purple ooze.

I writhed in pain at the chemical. It reminded me of a fire, only it froze me. The frozen fire scraped at and peeled off my skin.

Thought became almost impossible after that, and all I felt was pain. I knew I was dying, and the last thing I did was dare to open my eyes. I briefly saw the brilliantly white figure of Aang make contact with the Mud creature's skull, and the flash was incredible.

The image quickly disappeared into a new round of pain as the chemical started eating out my stinging eyes with a cold proficiency. Then the world faded to black.

**Mai's POV: **I knew the death was coming for me, now that I had shot that dagger at it. For a flickering moment I had felt what I longed and dreaded to feel. It was true fear; a fear for myself, and my life. Even when I was dying at Azula's knife point, I still was numb to the sensation, but now, I could feel it with a quick hollowness in my stomach. It was only for an instant, before it was gone. But I had felt it.

The cloud was less than one hundred yards away now, and the world would be eaten and killed in less than a minute. At least I wouldn't be here to see it. I tried to remember the incredible image in my brain as the last one I'd ever have. Teo's yellow glow was far away, holding Toph, Katara, and Sokka in a netting of air. Aang's white shine that seemed to cover half the sky up until the monster was close to the monster. And Zuko…

I saw a brilliant red figure flying towards the figure at incredible speeds, and feared for what would come next. In an instant of lucid thinking, I knew in my heart what was going to happen.

Zuko threw himself into the monster, right into my dagger. Shockingly, the monster was thrown back slightly. It was as if he was able to shove something inside the mud that could actually be touched. In a swift instant, the thing recovered and grabbed Zuko in the wad of purple that it had originally aimed at me, and threw him at the ground. His terrified and tortured screams punctured my heart, and it bled deep.

I couldn't comprehend the next moment of Aang jumping up and coming to slam his palm into the monster's forehead. All I could see was Zuko's writhing figure down with the dead grass below, and his screams of pain reverberated in my ears. Only when the crackle of the monster disappearing broke through the suddenly silent air did what was happening jump into my thoughts.

The mud hung, suspended in the air for a moment before falling quickly down to the ground and turning to water that flowed everywhere that the battle had touched. The purple coating on the ground slowly evolved to pure water, and washed over the horrible land. The small inside core of the mud remained as a type of liquid metal that was shaped like a man. In the man's stomach, lay my knife. Aang continued to pull it through his body and the maroon sky slowly became permeated with small rays of Aang and Akasha's bright glow. The cloud, which was less than three feet away started to dissolve, along with the metal monster. For a split moment, the world exploded in light, and I was blind to everything, except the feeling of taking a breath of fresh air after only breathing in smoke for weeks.

Then the light faded, and I opened my eyes. The sky was no longer white, or a dark maroon, but a familiar navy blue, dotted with stars. I turned to see the last hint of the sun dip behind the horizon. Everyone had lost their glow, and their skin had returned to normal. Aang was standing on the charred ground with his hand on his head, and Teo let Toph, Katara, and Sokka down.

Everything came back, and a wave of terrified nausea swept over me. I pulled out my largest knife and dug it into the rock wall, letting the splitting rock drag me down to the ground, where a mangled body stood.

Zuko.

Katara clumsily stumbled over to me and Zuko before collapsing on the ground. She pulled out all the water in her five pouches, and began the healing process. First she ran her hands over his body, and extracted a good tablespoon of that awful chemical. I watched as it quickly transformed into clean water and Katara let it splash away. Then she began examining the marred and tortured skin. Slowly, but surely, the skin began to heal and turn to normal. I waited for him to wake up, but nothing happened.

"I've done everything I can. If his heart is strong enough, then he'll wake up in a few hours or less. If not…" She paused for a moment sadly. I couldn't make myself look away from him. I traced the back of my fingers along his handsome jaw, and up and across his cheeks. "If not… then I'm so sorry." Katara finished. I lifted my shoulder to hide the tears forming behind my eyes.

**Katara's POV: **After I had healed the rest of the wounded soldiers, I came back to see Ty Lee, Teo, Aang, Sokka, and Toph waiting with Mai to see if Zuko woke up yet. So far, there hadn't been a slight flinch.

I felt a morbidly ironic sense of Déjà vu. The last time we had all fought together during a big battle, I was hovering over an almost lifeless Mai with a crushed Zuko hovering over me. Now I had just been hovering over an unconscious Zuko, with a mournful Mai hanging over me.

I quietly walked over to the group and checked Zuko's body. He looked the same as he did a few minutes ago, but I noticed that his cheeks were slightly paler. Worried, I crawled over to the front and tapped Mai on the shoulder.

"I would like to try another healing session if you are okay with it." I whispered to her. She turned to me and I saw the tear streaks visible on her cheeks. She hastily wiped and her face and nodded.

"Anything to help him." She said in a rushed tone. I smiled and breathed concentrated. I felt the tiny particles of vapor in the air. Even after Kaira had left, everything I had learned from her, every skill was still there. The immense power was gone, so some moves left me more drained than I remembered, but I still felt the connection to pure water.

I focused and pulled some water out of the air. I started my examination and noticed that his heart was getting stronger, but his lungs were getting weaker. Taking a further look at the organ, I noticed the tiniest bit of the purple liquid still clogging his lungs, and quickly found it and flushed it out; purifying it into water.

I noticed his chest rise, like he was taking a large breath of air after being caught in the smoke of a fire. I waited for a second more, before I felt his lungs almost jump from the realization that they were free from the burden of the poison.

The instant his lungs jump I pulled away. His eyes shot open and he flung his head back, gasping for air. Mai's eyes were as wide as a War Balloon. Zuko recovered quickly, and sat up slowly, his arm shaking, and the color quickly returning to his cheeks. Mai wrapped her thin arms around him and I detected new tears on her cheeks, though these were tears of joy. He instinctively returned her hug and started rubbing her back in comfort.

"Shh, it's okay! I'm okay." He whispered to her; she just pulled him tighter. They rocked back and forth for a minute, like I remember them doing at the Final Battle. "Don't worry Mai, I'm fine, I'm okay! And from the looks of it, so is the world." I heard a small laugh come from Mai, and noticed her tears stopped. They just hugged for a moment before letting go and putting their foreheads together; looking deep into each other's eyes.

"We survived."

* * *

**Hey! Not too terrible I hope! I know I'm worst at battle scenes, but I tried! Anyway, pronunciation guide right here!**

**Syr: _Sigh-year_**

**Kaira: _K-eye-ruh_**

**Anil:_Uh-neel_**

**Rhea: _Ree-uh_**

**Tanguy: _Tahn-guy_**

**Akasha: _Uh-Kash-uh_**

**Once again, sorry about the rhyme! There are so few words that rhyme with water, and I suck at rhyme-y poems. Anyway, tell me what you think! Also, don't go away, there's an epilogue coming soon!**


	17. Epilogue

**Hey! This is it! This is the end of my Avatar saga! I enjoyed it so much, and I hope you did too! Unfortunately, I probably won't be writing any more fanfictions. Partially because of schoolwork, but mostly because I want to be a writer when I grow up, so the next logical step for me would be to try and publish a book! If I do get published (doubt it!) then I'll definately put a notice at the end of this fanfiction, and at the end of my first fanfiction! If I ever do get published, I hope you read it! I'll miss all you guys!**

**Disclaimer: SURPRISE! AFTER ALL THIS TIME, I REALLY WAS BRIAN AND MIKE... except i'm not. **

* * *

Epilogue

**Toph's POV: **It's been about two months since the battle. I haven't gotten any rest since then because yet another hell is coming to kill me.

"Toph, do you think that the roses would look nicer at the corners of the ceremony, or the orchids? The roses symbolize love and passion…. But the orchids have a romance to them too, and they symbolize longevity!" I sighed and grumbled at the minor detail that was driving both me and Katara to the edge of insanity.

"Katara! First of all, I can't see either of them! Second of all, no one's gonna care!" As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I regretted them. I heard a small whimper come out of my friend's mouth, and I knew that I sounded like we were having some prerequisites to another wave. I sighed and shook my head. "I like the orchids. I hear they're white, which'll look nice with the blue theme you have going on. Kind of like the moon to the ocean." Katara bounced and hugged me. For a second I wondered if Katara was actually Ty Lee in disguise.

"All I have to do now is get the dress and I'll be ready! Thanks so much Toph, for everything!" I grinned and hugged her when she came to hug me. I couldn't help but smile. Not only because of the mushy stuff, but also the fact that the dreadful wedding planning would soon be over. Being the Maid of Honor isn't easy stuff.

"Hey, no problem Sugar Queen. Just here to make your wedding as awesome as possible… and be able to test the cakes with you and Sokka and Aang!" Katara laughed, and I smiled at the memory.

_Flashback:_

"_Well, I have to go with the Carrot Cake." Aang said in the bakery. Sokka and I looked at each other and grinned. _

"_No, no, no! I like the double chocolate!" Sokka said! "See Toph, try this! It's perfect! Can we have another sample of the double chocolate to persuade these people!?" The woman brought out another free sample of cake. We all tried some. While Katara and Aang only took small bites to avoid mooching too much, Sokka and I dove in._

"_Well, I don't know Sokka. I simply adored the Marble and the Vanilla ones. Ma'am, do you think we could bring out more samples of those two?" I asked. She brought them out for us happily, completely oblivious to what Sokka and I were doing._

"_Gosh! There are so many choices! We may just have to have samples of all of them!" Sokka said. Aang and Katara glared at us subtly, but the woman didn't notice and brought out tons of more samples. Katara cut in._

"_Miss, thank you for your kindness, but you really don't have to do all this for us! Giving us all these samples and allowing us endless time to choose." I felt her smile and grabbed Katara's hand and rubbed it warmly._

"_Why wouldn't I? The Avatar is about to get married to a beautiful young lady. This is cause for a great celebration, so you must have the perfect cake! I'm so happy to help!" She smiled and grinned at us before going into the backroom. Katara turned to glare at us once she was out of earshot._

"_Guys! Could you be any ruder! This is on the borderline of stealing, and from such a nice woman! You two are like a Morality-free zone over here!" Katara hissed at us. We just smiled and took a bite out of more of the delicious cake._

"_Hey, what are morals but holding us back from getting what we want? What is right and wrong?" Sokka said, pulling out that old mustache and beard from Spirits knows where. I smirked before following up._

"_And if eating cake is wrong, I don't want to be right!" Katara and Aang rolled their eyes and smiled at each other, we just went back to our cake._

"_Separated at birth! They're on the same brainwave!" I heard Katara mutter annoyed. _

"_Nah, best friends and soul mates just tend to be like that!" Aang muttered back humorously._

_Sokka and I took an air break from out cake, and looked down to see a giant brownie with frosting decorated on top. We stared at each other for a moment before walking up to the woman hungrily._

"_Y'know, cake is such a cliché, and I want my Sister's wedding to be unique, d'you think we could see a sample of the giant brownie if it's possible?" Sokka asked hopefully. I had to hide a snort behind my hand. Spirits I love him. The woman merely grinned at us, and I felt her nod._

"_Of course, how sweet of you!" She went to get some brownie, and we went to go finish the cake samples._

_End Flashback:_

"I could've died of embarrassment right there!" Katara spluttered through giggles. "Your family is the richest in the Earth Kingdom, and you reduce yourself to mooching samples from a small bakery. When you came up for air, you were covered in chocolate!" Katara laughed, and I smiled at the memory.

I breathed in and calmed down, focusing again. I knew that in eight hours Katara would be going through the most important thing in her life, and I had to help her get ready. Mai and Ty Lee won't be coming for a few hours. It was Ty Lee's job to help with the makeup, and Mai's job to come up with a gorgeous hairstyle for her. I just had to help her set things up, and get her in her dress.

"Okay, I have a surprise for you!" I announced. I felt Katara turn to me in curiosity. I had remembered what she had said to me that day at Whale Tail Island, when we thought Aang and Sokka were going to die. She had said that she wanted Sokka to give her away… which he will, she wanted me to be the Maid of Honor… which I am, and she wanted one more thing that she was never able to find.

I pulled a dress out of my bag. It was off the shoulders, with long flowing sleeves that cut off on a diagonal. The dress was long. There was a small fur lining at the neck line, both wrists, and the very bottom. Sokka said the color was a deep blue, and the thin ribbon around the middle was more like the sky. In the front, there was the triple moon design, which was a full moon with opposite crescent moons on the side. He drew an image in the dirt to try and describe it to me better. It was pretty bad, seeing as he was never the artist, but I got a basic idea.

"My Mother's Wedding Gown!" She gasped in a happy shock. I grinned, knowing that I had done good. "I looked all over the South Pole. Where did you find it? How did you find it?" She blubbered. I shrugged.

"Sokka took me there to find it. It took forever, and I had to wear boots, and I couldn't see, but we found it." I remembered the frostbite I nearly got on my feet.

"Thank you!" She said appreciatively. I gave her a warm smile. "You have no idea how much this means to me." I nodded.

"I just wanted this wedding to be perfect. Otherwise, I'd later have to suffer hell from you… and Ty Lee, party planner dictator of the world." She smiled.

"Well, she does tend to get assertive when the ribbons are the wrong shade of turquoise…" I laughed at her comment.

"So true… now get in that dress so you don't piss off your jet lagged hair stylist and the Wedding Dictator when they get here!" She nodded and walked off into a separate room to change. I hopped onto the wooden part of the flooring to give her complete privacy. After a few moments I heard the door swing open, and I stepped back onto the rock.

"So, how do I look?" She asked me excitedly. I raise my eyebrows at her comment.

"Beautiful! Your heartbeat sounds even more gorgeous than usual!" I said with Ty Lee-like exitedness. Katara winced slightly.

"Oh yeah… sorry!" She said quickly. I smiled.

"Hey, no worries. It's your day." I said smiling. Mai and Ty Lee chose this time to burst in.

"Hey guys! Everything looks amazing! It looks like you followed all of my decorating suggestions! I'm so touched!" Ty Lee squealed, and I gritted my teeth, trying to avoid slapping my hands over my ears.

"By suggestions, she obviously means demands though." Mai said smirking, appearing from behind Ty Lee.

**Aang's POV: **I breathed out one more time. There was still one big question that I had to answer. Everything is set and ready; all I have to wonder now is whether I should wear traditional Air Nomad marriage garments, or if I should wear a very nice Water Tribe suit. If I do the Suit, then I'll blend in with the rest of the theme. I'd also probably be looked at more highly. However, it was so rare than an Air Nomad got married, there was a specific kind of suit that we would wear during a marriage, and I didn't want my culture to die out. Also, I didn't particularly want to wear dead animal skins.

I heard the wind wrinkle and shift towards me a few seconds before I heard the squeak on the door. The air told me that it was Sokka.

"Don't tell me that you're still looking at those same two suits!?" He said in an annoyed voice. I had been bugging him about this for over a half of an hour.

"It's a tough decision!" I protested. He rolled his eyes.

"Okay, I'll make it easier by deciding for you… wear a tiger leopard loincloth." He smirked. I rolled my eyes and laughed lightly.

"Sorry, but I can't… see the only loincloth I could find was too big on me, so I decided that you should wear it, cuz it'd fit you!" I joked. Sokka smirked.

"Just pick already!" He finally said. "The ceremony is starting soon, and I still have to get ready for walking down the aisle with Katara, then stepping in as a Best Man. There's also something else that I have to get ready for and… never mind. This is your day buddy! Or is it baldy?" He laughed. I rolled my eyes before airbending him into a wall effortlessly, then turned back to the suits. I wasn't trying to impress her people, I was trying to impress her. I also felt more comfortable in clothes that didn't used to be alive…

I grabbed the Air Nomad Suit and ran to go change.

**Katara's POV: **It was two grueling hours of hair being pulled and yanked, and me being smothered with the dust of some type of makeup. But finally, it was done, and I was able to freeze a slate of water for a mirror. Picking up the slate of ice, I examined my head on all sides.

The makeup was gorgeous. My eye shadow wasn't as obvious as when I went to a Spa in Ba Sing Se. It was a subtle sky blue, and it was beautiful. Instead of the very vibrant and stand-outy Blue Jay blue, it was quieter, almost like cerulean blue, and matched my eyes perfectly.

Instead of bright red or bright pink lips that I saw some girls wear that made their lips look like candy strings, it was a mix of tans and subtle pinks and reds, with a pinch of sparkle. It made my lips stand out, but look natural.

There was the smallest hint of blush on my very tan skin, not making me look like a star-struck pre-teen again with immense amounts of bright red slopped on each cheek, just a little brush or two to accent my face.

My hair was also stunning. Mai had really outdone herself. My hair was pulled back into seven different small and low buns, which was all pulled together into one bun with an exquisite silver, hair bun holder. The design was gorgeous, each of the silver strands was twisted and curled, and wavy, wrapping around my buns. In the front, there were two tendrils of hair by my face that were lightly curled to look wavy. It sculpted my face marvelously. Sokka would probably later call it something like "hair loopies gone wild" or something stupid like that, but it was really amazing. I turned to them both. They smiled at the finished product of all their hard work.

"Wow Katara! You look incredible! I may even be attracted to you!" Ty Lee said with a sly smile, giggling. I smiled and rolled my eyes.

"You'll knock them all out when they see how gorgeous we've made you!" Mai said smiling. Toph stood up with a huge grin on her face.

"Uh oh! I can't see, but if she's as great looking as you're making her out to be, then someone would need to stuff some smelling salts in their pockets because Aang won't make it all the way through her walk down the aisle!" We all laughed at the image.

"Poor boys! They'll get a parade of stunning girls in spectacular dresses walking by, and all of them will be taken." Ty Lee giggled. Mai cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Poor boys indeed?! They'll have the greatest day of their lives when we come walking down the aisle. Heck, they'll need a waterbender behind us to mop up all the drool!" Mai said smirking. I couldn't help but laugh again.

We all continued throwing jokes around as Mai and Ty Lee tried to get Toph into makeup. It kinda failed miserably, but at least we convinced her to let her hair down. It was much longer than mine, stopping just before her butt.

She would be wearing the same Forest Green dress she wore to the six month anniversary. She had converted her usual meteor bracelet into a thin and gorgeous circlet, which was now lightly wrapped around her head, a little meteorite heart was dangling from the point in the middle of her forehead.

Ty Lee and Mai had fixed themselves up before they came, so once we had finished Toph, we were ready to go. Toph slipped on some temporary shoes as we walked to the Spirit Oasis.

When we came to the small wooden door by the back of the Northern Water Tribe's Temple I sighed deeply and peeked in to see several people from all over the world, many who I recognized, but some I didn't. My head felt a little dizzy. Suddenly, I heard someone behind me. It was funny, there was so much water in this air, I should've felt it. But then again, I was distracted.

"Hey Sis, didn't people tell you that it's bad luck to peak into the ceremony before every one sits down?" I turned and rolled my eyes at Sokka. He was in a light blue Shirt and pants with a dark blue poncho thing draped over his neck, but stopped after his shoulders. He was still wearing those same old gloves that he always wore. I smiled and hugged him.

"From someone who recently survived a giant Spirit attack on the world, I'd say that I'm safe taking a quick peek at all the finished work." I said with a smirk. He smirked back before turning and nodding to Mai and Ty Lee.

"Hey, where's Toph?" He asked quickly. I looked but didn't see her. Mai cut in before I started to worry.

"She said that she went to go readjust her circlet, because according to her, it's slightly lopsided." Mai said. He smiled and looked around curiously.

"Do you know where she went?" Sokka asked. Mai shrugged. I quietly concentrated on the water in the ice, and felt through it, until I felt a familiar body in the Temple.

"She's one hall down, on the third door to the left." I said slowly, making sure the coordinates are correct. He nodded.

"I'll go and get her." Sokka said quickly before trotting off to go get her. I smirked as I saw him walk away quickly, but my smirk turned to a gasp when I saw what was in his hand.

**Toph's POV: **I fixed it again, for the eighth time today, then finally sighed contentedly before sadly putting on my shoes and walking outside, where I heard Sokka's voice. I turned in that general direction and smiled widely. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to pull off any hi-jinks today, though we did have some crazy kitchen missions. That poor chef never knew what hit him… otherwise known as stole all his cakes and desserts.

"Hey Toph!" He called out to me. I smiled.

"Hey Sokka!" I replied before he came up and gave me a quick kiss.

"You look stunning today!" He said to me. I smiled, and he continued. "But I can't help but think that there's something missing…" He said. I turned to look at him curiously. I knew he was getting at something, he was using his "I'm hinting at something" voice.

"Hmm, there's definitely something missing. I think maybe it might be this." He said quietly just before I felt a warm ring slip down the ring finger on my right hand.

After touching it, I recognized it as a perfect smooth ring made out of some type of crystal found in some caves in the Earth kingdom. On the inside, there were a few carvings that I recognized as letters. They said "Even after death, I will continue loving you". I gasped and heard Sokka go down on one knee. My eyes widened to saucers as I realized what was happening.

"Toph Bei Fong, will you marry marry me?" He asked it. I huge grin snuck across my face and words failed me for a moment. I nodded quickly.

"Yes." I said quietly and ecstatically. "I'd love to!" I continued as he stood up. I couldn't say anything else before he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me into a kiss again. I felt his heart against mine, going a thousand beats a second, mine sounded quite similar. If this was proposal, then I wouldn't mind repeating it.

After a minute or so, Sokka regretfully pulled away before saying "The Wedding is starting soon, we have to go." I nodded and we both quickly walked back to where Katara, Mai and Ty Lee were standing in a line. I walked to my place in the line, right in front of Katara, when she tugged on my shoulder and looked at me.

"Toph, are you okay? Your face is bright red!" Katara whispered to me. I rolled her eyes and smiled before nodding happily. Maybe she wouldn't notice the ring, and wouldn't go all girly and squealy on me.

I had no luck today.

"Eek! Toph, what's that on your finger? Is that a ring? Is that the crystal from the Cave of Two Lovers? Is that a Wedding Ring?" I nodded slowly, frantically motioning to keep her voice down, lest Ty Lee hear her. "Eek! Sokka proposed! Was it incredible? Was it romantic? Did you know about this? What happened?" She interrogated. I rolled my eyes and sighed, cutting her off from a babblefest.

"Shh, I'll tell you about it later. Right now is your moment." I said quietly. When I said that, she quickly forgot about my engagement ring and got anxious again. Just then, I heard Sokka's loud footsteps behind me.

"Hey Sis, ready for this?" He asked, putting his around her comfortingly. She probably smiled, though I couldn't see a thing.

"You aren't going to lecture me and Aang about what we could and couldn't do alone?" She asked him wryly with slight surprise.

"Nah, I trust you, and I already talked to Aang. You don't mind if he has a small black eye today, do you?" He said in a very convincing voice. Still, he was obviously lying because he was inflicting his voice up when he ended the sentence. Katara didn't catch on.

"You did WHAT!?" She hissed at him. I bit my tongue to keep from cackling.

"Kidding! Kidding! Don't kill me!" He said laughing. I couldn't hold back anymore and started laughing too.

"You two suck!" She said, and probably stuck her tongue out. My giggling was cut off by Ty Lee.

"Guys, it's starting!" She whispered excitedly. Our line quickly reformed, and Ty Lee opened the small wooden door that they'd warned me about, and walked in. I counted out a few seconds before Mai went in. Then I waited that much longer before I felt around for the round wooden door and stepped through.

I felt solid earth inside to my relief, and gasped at the simple beauty of the place. I felt the kind of tingling in the vibrations in the earth that meant Spirits were around here. I smiled and started walking towards the bridge...

… a very _wooden_ bridge.

I stepped on it cautiously, and smiled as I felt that Sokka had lined one side with dirt. He was so sweet that way. I walked over the bridge to where I felt several friends of Aang's and every one's. I recognized Hippo and the Boulder, and several others. I saw Aang standing by the Spirit Pond with Zuko, then Teo behind him. I took my place in front of Mai, and waited for a moment.

When I felt every head turn, I knew that Katara had made her grand entrance. I smiled and felt her step off the bride. I couldn't help but bite the inside of my cheek listening to Twinkle Toes' heartbeat. Spirits, it sounded a lot like a stampede of Wildeer. Hers was moving at a similar pace.

I couldn't help but smile at how perfect they were for each other. Both were fun loving, kids at heart, both can act very young, and both could act very old, and both had a Moral Compass that was always annoyingly due North.

Katara met Aang in front of the Spirit Pond. Sokka went to stand in front of Zuko. We all turned as I heard Pakku walk up to the two lovebirds and felt him smile before starting the ritual.

**Aang's POV: **All the worries from this afternoon about which suit to wear, what decorations to put up, where to have it between under the gate or up by the pond, every single one disappeared from my mind the moment she walked into the Oasis. She was gorgeous, and I couldn't believe she was mine.

We finally met after she finished crossing the bridge, which is supposed to be symbolic for… I honestly don't know what, I was too busy with the suit problem to pay attention to Pakku. Although I do remember him snapping at me and saying that I hadn't changed a bit.

"Welcome friends from around the world, and thank you for coming today to witness the marriage of these two young lovers. When I first met them, they were so different, and so unique, but even then… two years ago, I saw a spark between them that could never die. That spark is love, the greatest gift given to this world. Today, I call upon the Spirits of the Moon and Ocean Spirits to witness, and support the marriage of these two." Pakku said, but his words were in the back of my mind. We had turned to each other and were staring into each other's eyes. I could get lost in the Lapis pools of her eyes.

"Katara, drink this water from the Spirit Oasis. And when you do, promise to love and cherish Aang forever, knowing that not even at death will you part, then bite off a part of the glass." Pakku said.

She was handed a chalice of ice with a small amount of sparkling water inside. She drank from the glass before biting off a small piece of ice from the rim.

"To the Spirits I say these words in complete love and complete trust. Forever will I love Aang of the Southern Air Temple. Not even death itself coming between him and me. We are, and forever will be, one." I smiled, being the happiest person in the world right now.

Pakku then handed me the same chalice and said the same to me. I slowly drank almost the entire glass, remembering to leave two drops for the Moon and Ocean Spirits. I bit off of another piece of the rim and rolled the ice around on my tongue. I turned to speak, and looking at Katara, I knew I could not have said anything different.

"To the Spirits I announce my complete and eternal love for Katara of the Southern Water Tribe. May my love echo to the farthest reaches of this world and the next. Our love will continue forever throughout the world. In every life, in every new name, I will continue to always love her, now and forever." The words came out in truth and beauty.

She looked at me then with such a look of love, that I knew that I meant every word. I couldn't believe she was finally mine. After everything we've endured, every battle we've fought, every enemy we've taken down, after all the trials and tribulations there was finally peace, and I was in love with the most gorgeous girl in the world. We stepped closer, and met in an amazing and memorable kiss.

"With this kiss; as witnessed by the Spirits above, and the Powers that Be. Together they are bound as husband and wife, this love will be forever together, through this life, and the next." Pakku proclaimed. We finally broke the kiss and hugged.

"Forever." I whispered.

* * *

**Was that too corny of an ending? I tried to avoid corny, but I'm worried that it snuck in anyway!**

**Anyway, thanks to all of you guys for reading and reviewing! I had so much fun reading everyone's reviews, and replying to every one! **

**Here's your last chance to review... and my last chance to reply!**


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